


Teach me how to feel again

by Fritz_VE



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Domestic Violence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Swearing, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Psychological Trauma, minor smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23672236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fritz_VE/pseuds/Fritz_VE
Summary: Amélie "Widowmaker" Lacroix is a highschool teacher, dealing with trauma from war she was forced to fight in, that robbed her of emotions and her old self. Lena "Tracer" Oxton is her student, a bright and cheerful girl with a weakness for her cold professor, and her own history of traumatic experiences. Can the unlikely heroes heal each other's wounds, or did they underestimate just how deep their scars really are ?
Relationships: Lena "Tracer" Oxton/Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix, Widowmaker | Amélie Lacroix/Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Comments: 17
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

*beep beep beep*

As the alarm started ringing, the eyes of Amélie “Widowmaker” Lacroix shot open. 

After she realized where she was, she let her eyes close again, relaxing her body, willing to indulge in the comfortable warmth of her bed for just a few seconds longer. Such contrast in comparison with the bed they had back in the base, the thin layer of cloth was only slightly better than sleeping on the ground, and constantly covered in sand from the times when she was too tired to take her uniform off. 

Back there, on the front, she was the Widowmaker, the deadliest sniper in the modern history of the USA, surpassing the body count of Chris Kyle and other great marksmen of this era. Simply mentioning her name struck fear into the hearts of even the most fanatic enemies, as she killed from the shadows, only to vanish again, leaving more corpses to bury.

At least that's what the propaganda would have you to believe, in Amélie's humble opinion, she was only another soldier in another meaningless war. She was indeed better than the most, apparent by the fact that she was currently alive, but in the end, only a small insignificant pawn in the face of a great conflict. 

Breaking the line of her thoughts, she got up. Already missing the war embrace of her blanket, she put on her bunny slippers and made her way to the kitchen. 

The slippers were a gift from her brother, and while the design was questionable, the comfort was not. The cosy feeling of the soft fabric made her every day journey just slightly less tedious. 

Bunny ears dangling around her feet as she walked, she finally arrived at her destination, immediately turning on the coffee machine. In the desolate desert of Iran, she was the Widowmaker. Here, she is Amélie Lacroix, an ordinary high school teacher. 

Turning on the TV, the voice of a young reporter, standing behind some sort of a parliament building has filled the room.

“Last few remaining pockets of resistance have been successfully destroyed as our troops finally reached the city centre. With Tehran falling, it would seem that the war with Iran has been brought to its end. This is a great day for democracy, freedom and all the people of Iran who have suffered under the oppression…..

Amélie absent-mindedly listened to the ranting, while stuffing her mouth full of cereals. There was no one to comment on her unconventional eating habits, so she let the milk drip on the table, fragments of cereals flying out of her mouth right on the carpet. She could clean it once she got home. It's not like she had anything to do, and every second spent cleaning or doing other basic tasks, was one where she would not just stare into a wall. 

Having enough of patriotism for today, she turned the TV off. The reporter's speech was delivered so enthusiastically, that Amélie has been left with no doubts that the greatest danger he ever faced in his life was slipping on a banana peel or such. 

Those kinds of people were usually the most vocal supporters of war. When the letters of conscription started flowing in, many celebrities and people with influence suddenly developed medical conditions making them unable to serve. Thankfully, they healed rather quickly, just around the time the conscription quotas were met. And they say miracles don't exist. 

She still remembered her letter, or rather the one of her brother, whom she chose to volunteer instead. Such a little unassuming piece of paper, had she known what the future held for her, she would tear the paper to shreds, serving the few months in prison instead. 

Well, no reason to delve in the past.

As she sipped the last few drops of caffe, she checked her materials, inspected her clothing and like any normal person, left for work. The BMW in front of her house blinked a few times, signalling being unlocked, even making little sound effect, so all in the close vicinity were made aware that you are richer than them. 

As Amélie sat into the leather seat and accelerated, she was reminded of one of the very few benefits of her military career, special ops treated their people like an expendable piece of equipment, but they did pay well. 

Funny, in the past, she dreamed of having a car such like this, now, she dreamed of never having to go through the ordeal that allowed her to be able to purchase it in the first place. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, she supposed. 

Stepping on the gas pedal, she rapidly neared her place of employment - The Overwatch high, she sometimes wondered about the strange name, but headmaster Morrison had assured her that it is in fact, very original. 

Parking her car along with the considerably less flashy vehicles of her colleagues, she made her way inside. Going through the halls, the students greeted her respectfully, pretending to be going about their business, only to turn their heads once she passed them, getting a good look on her ass. 

That was just something that came with the job of looking after a bunch of hormonal teens. That excuse could not be applied to the other teachers, doing pretty much the same thing, albeit bit more discreetly. At least with the exception of Jesse McCree, the PE teacher, who bothered with no such formalities and started to his heart's content. 

She respected his boldness, and expressed her respect by tripping him whenever he made the mistake of getting too close. It wasn't done out of malice, rather it was a little game she used to kill boredom, and respect to the man, he took it like a champ. Eventually she opened the doors of the classroom, and began the lecture. 

As she mechanically repeated french words and phrases for the class to remember, she idly let her eyes slide across the classroom.

In the very front sat Winston, enthusiastically taking notes and answering questions, despite already knowing enough to pass the test several times over. Such sentiment would probably be rewarded with bullying and cruel jokes, were it not for the fact that Winston was built like a tank. The behemoth of a boy, with enough muscle in his 18 years of age to put even elite soldiers into shame, cut quite a terrifying figure, but as it often was, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The shy and gentle boy was the living definition of the word “nice”, sometimes too much for his own good, shown by the fact that he was letting Ashe, sitting right beside him, blatantly copy all of his notes. 

Speaking of the devil, Ashe was the class delinquent, and was not sitting in front of the teacher's desk by her choice. She remembered that back before her departure, Ashe would drive her crazy by the constant disobedience and generally being a pain in the ass. After she returned from her two years' involuntary exotic vacation, she found herself less than tolerable towards Ashe's theatrics. 

The most ruthless of soldiers who cut throats like it was butter, pissed their pants upon hearing she was making an inspection, she was feared more than death itself, by enemies and her own men alike. So when on the very first day of her resumed job, Ashe threw a paper plane, expertly hitting her butt, she… Well….. Calmly explained Ashe the importance of discipline. 

It did work, despite leaving the girl traumatised for the better part of a month and somehow creating a phrase “to Ashe someone”, which firmly placed itself into the everyday vocabulary of most of the student body. 

Oblivious to everything that was happening around her, Hana Song happily played on her phone, hidden under the table. She was not fooling anyone, but she was quiet, and did well enough on the tests, so she let it slide. 

Her inner monologue has suddenly been interrupted by a loud noise, coming from the back of the classroom. As she traced the cause of the disturbance, her eyes settled on Lena Oxton, also known as the Tracer for her athletic achievements, snorting loudly with her head on the table, sleeping like a rock. 

At that moment, it was as if the time had stopped, everybody froze, well aware of the catastrophe that was going to meet the poor gir, enjoying pleasant dreams in the middle of the class, right under the nose of the most merciless teacher in the entire school. 

Lucio, the boy sat next to her, valiantly tried to wake his friend, color draining from his face as she slowly, in measured steps, approached her victim. It reminded her a scene of a soldier, trying to patch up his mortally wounded comrade as the enemies were closing in on their position. When their eyes met, Lucio, the hero up until the end, nudged her shoulder one last time, and then retreated, praying for the girl to survive what will inevitably follow. 

When Amélie reached the girl, she took a moment to inspect her sleeping form. The short but thick brown hair was wildy flowing over her face, not resembling any conventional hair style, under it rested two big brown eyes, though currently closed. The area around her nose was covered in light freckles, adding up to the tomboyish impression of the girl. She wasn't a classical beauty like Angela, but still charming in her own little way. 

Dismissing the thoughts, she raised her hand, proceeded to smash it on the table, right next to the sleeping girl's head. 

It worked little too well. As Lena's body spasmed violently, she practically launched herself off the table, knees hitting its side, making her stumble backwards, legs striking the chair that she managed to trip over by her sudden movement. Still unaware of what was going on, she fell, her head rapidly descending towards the table behind her. A strong arm caught her.

Lena, currently being held in the air with an arm wrapped around her back, looked into the face of her saviour. And Froze. Wide range of emotions passed her pale face, looking into the eyes of professor Lacroix, both the most terrifying and the hottest teacher in Overwatch high. She did not look impressed. 

“Ehm…. So…” She looked up, managing to put on a not very self confident smile , “The answer is .. Oui?” 

From the blank stare of her teacher and cringing faces of her fellow student, she deduced it was not the right answer. She did not have too much time to think about it, since professor Lacroix, has not-so-gentely dropped her back onto her chair.

“Lena Oxton, you will be staying after class to discuss this matter” 

All the energy draining from her, Lena slumped into her chair. Frustrated, she turned her head towards her classmate 

“Lucio, why the hell didn't you wake me up” “

“Lena, shut up, just shut up” 

Amélie Lacroix did not feel surprised. In fact, since the war, she had not been able to feel any stronger emotion, still, the current situation had her mind wander. 

Her students could be divided into two simple categories, according to how they passed the time in her, admittedly, not overly exciting lectures. First category, such as Hana, used their phones and other tools to kill boredom, second, and easily more numerous, simply observed her “assets”. Never had the class paid so much attention as in the moment when she had to bend over to pick up something from the ground. 

Lena Oxton fitted firmly into the latter, She gazed onto her breasts with the same intensity like a preached man looking on a glass of water. So her choosing sleep over the show was certainly unusual. 

Oh well, she will get to know soon enough. 

Finally, the bell rang. In a blink on an eye, all the people inside went from totally stationary, to madly rushing towards the door. It was a captivating scene, there was no place for comradery, elbows connected with faces, legs were tripped, hair was pulled. If you hesitated to harm your kin, even for a second, you would be knocked down by those who did not. Like fire was licking their feet, all the students escaped the classroom, well, safe for one. 

Lena Oxton felt sweat running down her face, as she cautiously approached her teacher, She always dreamed of professor Lacroix, telling her to stay after class, but she had the feeling that this will not go down like in her fantasies. And truly, instead of her professor declaring that it's a bit hot in here and taking off her clothes, she merely gestured her to sit next to her table. 

Unlike all the other students, she actually still liked professor Lacrox, and not just for her looks. While her reason was a bit more personal, everybody liked the professor back then, before she had to leave for war. 

She was easily the kindest and most understanding teacher in the school. There are no wrong answers, she always used to say, with that smile of hers, ever present on her face. Lena still remembered the last day, when she told them that she would be leaving for a while. When she revealed the reason for her sudden departure, everybody was terrified, nobody could imagine professor Lacroix of all people, harming another person. 

Nobody said it, but with someone like her, all knew that she would probably not come back. 

On that night, she remembered the moments she spent with her teacher, she was there for her when nobody else was, her kind words of support being what kept her going. She cried herself to sleep, praying to whatever divine being was there to keep her safe.

“Dont worry about me, I will be fine, just keep studying, I expect you all to speak fluent French when I come back” Professor Lacrox was waving at them, smiling as the car doors closed behind her. 

Even in her final moments before being shipped to the frontline of the bloodiest conflict since Korean war, she still worried only about them. And in the end she really did come back, but… definitely not alright. 

When she heard that the professor was combing back, she could not help herself but cry in joy, as did the rest of her classmates. What followed was not what anyone expected. 

Gone was the constantly well spirited teacher they all knew and loved, what they got instead was a cold, apathetic woman, who simply recited what was written in the book, quite literally destroying anyone who dared to argue, or do anything, really. 

Now she was known as the bane of the school, but to Lena, it wasn't fair. Nobody could be expected to stay the same after what she must have seen. She was sure that she would come back to her usual self eventually, and even as half of the year had passed and there were no signs of change, she was going to support her how little she could.

At least that has been the idea. Considering her current situation, she wasn't exactly keeping with her inner promises. Just as her ass hit the chair, she began. 

“And I am really really sorry, I didn't mean to sleep, I was tired because of all the running I did before, I know that's no excuse, and I definitely won't do it again, I…” 

Amélie sat in silence, listening to the girl's extensive, and rather emotive apology. From anybody else, she would consider it as just trying to avoid punishment, but seeing the honestly apologetic face of the girl in question, it was not the case here. Lena, for all her bravado, has always been a nice girl, aming only to please those around her. 

Maybe it was because her mother died shortly after she was born, but the girl has always been clinging to her. Even at the age where revolting against the authority was the norm, Lena was always treating her words like some kind of holy scripture. The pure bliss of happiness on her face whenever she complimented her work was a funny but pleasant sight. 

Fast forward three years and not much has changed. Now she had bit more curves in comparison to her 15 years old self, but probably less than she would have liked. 

Well, at least she didn't have to worry about her chest ruining her balance when she was running. 

What apparently did not change was the nature of the girl, who seemed honestly upset about displeasing her. Amélie did not like to pretend, but she still smiled for the girls sake, hopefully convincing her that she wasn't about to give her the Ashe treatment. 

“I suppose that is… understandable, I am aware that my lesson are bit less exciting than they used to be” 

There, she even threw a bit of empathy in, that should calm the girl down. As the words rang through the empty classroom, Lenna recoiled back. 

“Oh my god, I made her feel bad” That thought hit her with the strength of an avalanche. “Dammit, how could I be this stupid, now she has to think that the whole sleeping buissnes was an insult to her, that I was making a fun of her.” 

Her absolutely inaccurate conclusion continued to grow inside her mind, she was imagining just how much of a mental blow she just delivered to her favourite professor. Lena's mind went into an overdrive, she had to fix this somehow, and fast. 

“No, No, No, that's really not true, your lesson are fine, not fine, ehm, great, really” 

Professor gave her a questioning look, one that had her sweating even more than she already did. Alright so she could just blatantly lie, still, she had to say something positive. 

“I mean, you are a really great teacher, you would always help me with my problems, and never get angry, and.. and not just me, everyone, you were always nice to everyone regardless of their grades, you never actually gave Ash any serious punishment, even though she totally deserved it”.

Lena couldn't tell if this was working or not, the poker face her professor wore wasn't giving her any indication either way. She needed something specific, as all the possible and impossible thoughts kept flowing through her head, she finally got it. 

“Remember the time when you took the class to Yellowstone park, I was trying to climb this big tree, but I fell and twisted my ankle, you patched me up and actually carried me the whole way back”

That memory of being carried by her beautiful teacher made her blush a little every time she recalled it. Amélie did remember it, it felt like a distant memory, despite happening just three years ago, but at the same time, the memory was still vivid. 

Then suddenly, she remembered something. 

She opened the drawer and quickly began to go through the folders marked by years. Luckily, she had a habit of keeping all documents in one place, and eventually found what she was looking for. Lena looked as the professor pulled out a group of old pictures, she drew one and put it on the table. 

Lenna froze, memories rushing back to her upon seeing the photo, It was her and professor Lacroix, on the very school trip she was talking about. They were standing in front of a river, 15 years old Lena was standing there grinning from ear to ear, wearing a yellowstone shirt she bought from the nearby shop. It was a bit too big for her, the loose fabric hanging around her waist making her look like some sort of a child trying on her parents clothes. 

Damm, one picture they had together and she had to look like a total dumbass. 

Next to her stood Amélie Lacriox. 

Only when she was seeing her in the picture, she realized how drastically different current Amélie really was. The professor in the picture has also been smiling, standing there with her arm around her shoulder, pulling her to her side for the picture. The stark contrast between the relaxed smiling professor, having fun with her student, and the woman sitting in front of her reminded her just how much has changed in those three years.

Amélie, despite maintaining her facade, had exactly the same thoughts as Lena did. That happy woman in the picture was Amélie Lacroix, loving teacher who had died the moment she pulled the trigger for the first time. She never came back as she promised, she lost her life like so many young Americans, alone and far from home. Instead the Widwomaker took her place.

For a while, they both just sat there, each absorbed by their own thoughts.

Surprisingly, it was Amélie who spoke first. 

“Those were good times'' 

That seemed to pull Lena out of her haze, she looked up to her. 

“Yeah, they really were '' 

She stayed quiet for a few seconds, conflict apparent in her expression as she wondered what she should say next. She pulled her chair a bit closer, finally looking into Amelié's eyes. They seemed tired, dead, almost. 

“You are a great teacher, and I.., I wouldn't want to study under anybody else”

Amelié held her gaze, but face still blank,

“even now ?” 

“Yes” 

Lenna was surprised just how resolutely her answer sounded. 

“You were always there for me, so even if things changed, I will do the same for you” 

Amélie gave her a strange look, but she held her ground, not willing to have her words questioned, she meant what she said. And then, suddenly, the teacher chuckleded. 

“Congratulations Lenna, you managed to distract me for nearly the all the time we had”

Were they talking for that long, she didn't even notice. The spell suddenly broken, Lenna realized just what exactly she had said to her professor. Her face turning red as a tomato, all the implications of her words hit her. 

“Oh my god, did I really say that, that was so cheesy, like from some bad romance novel”  
she thought. 

Mortified, and wishing to be just anywhere else, she desperately ran her brain to come up with some witty response that would nullify her earlier declaration. In spite of her mental effort, she came up with absolutely nothing, and was left to sit in front of her professor, silent, her facial features cringing and displaying various shades of red. Finally, Amélie took pity on her 

“Seeing as due to your clever ploy there is no time to administer any punishment, I will let you go this time, please mind your behaviour in the future miss Oxton.”

Lena, realizing that the embarrassing scene was finally over, practically jumped from her chair 

“Yeah, I mean, yes, totally, I will be as focused as, ah well… something really really focused” 

She wasn't really proud of that less than stellar comparison, but all the adrenalin leaving her, her brain was already running out of steam. 

“Ehm so sorry again for that sleeping stuff, won't happen again, I promise, sooo… see you later prof” 

and with those words she fled the classroom. As the door was closing and panic slowly leaving her she muttered under her breath

“And it's not like it was ploy or anything, I was being honest”

It was more to herself than any other, it wasn't like prof could hear that, she was awesome but didn't have enhanced senses or anything. 

When the doors closed, she realized that she was not alone, the entire class was waiting beside the classroom, and since no screaming had taken place for them to obtain information, they surrounded her like a flock hungry vultures would a dying animal. 

Though in this case, the animal was her, the flesh was the information, and she wasn't dying, which in itself was noteworthy, since she just presumably got chewed out by the infamous professor Lacroix. Not enjoying the spotlight, she laughed nervously.

“C'mon guys, it's alright, she didn't Ash me”. 

Nobody paid mind to Ash, ranting about how that totally wasn't an actual word, all hungrily expecting the information of what had happened in the classroom.

Lenna, realizing that what happened was too embarrassing to tell, quickly made up an alternative story of her just getting told off, and left her disappointed classmates behind her, as she jogged through the halls. 

Every detail of the conversation was playing over in her head, as she travelled home. When she overlooked the embarrassment, what happened was actually pretty great. She had a nice, comfortable moment with her teacher for the first time since she came back. She opened up to her. Well kinda, definitely more than ever before. 

Even after all these years, she had the picture, that knowledge left her with a warm feeling inside, and not the one she usually associated with the attractive professor. Now that she had a firm proof, that no matter how much she changed, there was still something of her old self hidden deep down inside, Lenna swore to herself that she would dig it out. 

When she was younger, she was labeled to be a troublemaker, she didn't really know how to deal with people, so she played the role of the class clown, seeking some sort of comfort from the laughs around her, hoping it would earn her a place in the collective she struggled to fit inside otherwise.

Needless to say, it did not, people laughed at her, not with her, all it did was to alienate everyone further. Even when she realized it, there was no option but to continue, because it was still better to be the funny dumb kid and deal with occasional mean jokes at her expense, then to be openly despised and hated. That of course, did not make her very popular with the teachers and only resulted in more beatings from her father. 

It was the time she was at her lowest, and then, Amélie Lacroix came. 

She quickly recognized what was going on, and unlike any other teachers, actually took steps to fix it. She offered the girl comfort, guidance, and many other things she lacked. 

Fresh out of university, the beautiful and intelligent woman, loved by everyone around her, spent a great deal of her own time and effort to help some random girl whom all others considered to be a menace. She taught her young self the meaning of friendship and self respect, and Lena did not let all her efforts be in vain. 

She got a new perspective on life, gradually managed to make real friends, started doing sports, and with her mind in the right place, she did pretty well academically too. All of that was thanks to one person, Amélie Lacroix.

Now it was time to return the favour, her professor was suffering, she could tell. She didn't make it obvious with her ever lasting facade, but in comparison to her old self in the picture, it was clear as a day. But she won't give up, not when she finally made some progress. 

Seems like she will be getting detention a bit more often from now on, and if they get closer as a result of that, well, she will be graduating in little over a year anyway. Lena was grinning wildly, letting her imagination run loose, despite knowing just how unlikely such situation was to ever occur. 

She entered her house, stepped over all the empty beer bottles scattered around the living room, ignored the smell of vomit and her intoxicated father swearing loudly from behind the TV. Nothing could ruin this day for her, and with that, she retreated to her room, already thinking about various ways to bring her plant into motion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the beginning of an actual plot, also contains heavy swearing, very slight erotic scenes, and mild amount of violence.
> 
> I will be thankful for any reviews, as this is my first work any feedback is appreciated. 
> 
> Cheers.

*Whoosh*

A spinning pen flew towards the ceiling. It reached its gravitational peak, falling again, only to be caught between two long slender fingers. Amélie threw it again, paying little attention to the object, instead gazing out of the window of the teacher quarters. 

For one hundred and twenty-seventh time today, she reached for the falling pen and grabbed it, right as it was about to hit the table. She did not need to see it, the sound being more than enough to pinpoint its current position with absolute accuracy. As she let her mind wander idly, it came back to the events of her latest lecture, more accurately, what happened after it. 

“You were always there for me, so even if things changed, I will do the same for you”

Ah Lenna, she did not change a bit. It was true her start was a rocky one. Despite her ongoing nature, she wasn't the best when it came to people. She didn't expect she would have to deal with bullying right in the beginning of her career, but to be honest, it wasn't that difficult. Lenna was quite troubled back then, but all it took was lending an ear to her problems and giving her small push in the right direction. She only provided some motivation, but the real effort that allowed Lenna to overcome the obstacles she faced, that was all her doing. She turned out pretty well in the end, still, it would be nice if she had a bit more faith in herself. 

She did grow some backbone, that much was clear. To declare something like that with such confidence. Seems like her little Lenna was finally growing up. If she manages to keep this act up, she will be drowning in women in no time, everyone loves a white knight, and she does have the look for it too. Unfortunately, her current situation was slightly more complex than a little girl with self confidence issues. 

However, there was no reason to tell her that her effort will be in vain. Lenna's whole saviour act was sort of adorable, really, what a sweet girl. There is no need to burst her bubble, let the girl dream, she will move on eventually. If nothing else, their little discussion was a welcomed break from the repetitive work she went through every day. The way her face got red after she realized her words, it was so like her. Amélie chuckled to herself. 

She threw the pen again. 

And waited 

It did not come back.

She looked up to see her pen suspended in the air, held by a small pale hand, which was attached to a perfectly curved, toned body. Blue eyes returned her gaze, the goddess-like face shaped in amusement. Angela Ziegler put the pen back, and placed a hot cup of coffee on her desk. 

“You looked like you needed that”

“Thanks”

She brought the steaming cup to her lips, and for a moment, they both stayed quiet. Angela was one of the very few people she could tolerate for a prolonged period of time, and that, in a sense of the word, made her her friend. 

“So I heard that Lenna was caught sleeping in your class.”

Amélie hummed in agreement. 

“I hope you did not deal with her the same way you did with Ash, I am doctor of medicine Amélie, not psychiatrist, I am not trained to handle traumatized patients. 

Ah, it was true that Angela was the one who had to deal with the fallout of her little… incident with Ash. It was pretty funny to her, especially the part where she was crying and begging for forgiveness, but she supposed that when you had to spend an hour every week trying to fix the mentally distressed girl, it lost its charm. 

“You don't have to worry about that, I got a feeling that the knowledge of her doing something to displease me is greater than any punishment I could administer,”

“Yeah, I figured”

Angela closed her eyes and smiled, seeming to recall a long forgotten memory. 

“She's crushing on you, hard. She was ever since you took her under your wing, so to speak”

Angela pulled her chair closer to hers, the smile turning into a predatory smirk. 

“Its cute, really, kinda like you were crushing on me when you were still studying here”

Of course, she loved bringing that up. Angela, being 5 years older than her, was the school nurse even in the time she herself was still a student. She was actually a certified doctor, but the school had one of the best football teams in the league, so they could actually afford to pay for top class surgeon to work as a nurse.

“I remember you scraped your knee on purpose, so you could come to me to get patched up, and you would refuse to meet my eyes the whole time, face totally red, oh the memories” 

Amélie sighted, seems that despite being one of the most efficient killers on the continent, her past as an embarrassed schoolgirl will never stop being thrown into her face. 

“Keep this up and I will traumatize so many children you won't have a piece of free time left”  
“Noooo please have mercy on meee”

Angela was throwing her hands into the air wildly, the performance could probably earn her a place in the drama club.

Then she suddenly stopped, she straightened, swiped the long blonde hair off her face, and looked into her eyes with a neutral expression.

“Speaking of which, shouldn't you be on your way to your own Psychologist ?”

Amélie cringed her face. Like it wasn't bad enough that the government used her like an expendable killing machine, now, she was required by law to visit the psychiatrist office every week. Like they just found out that conscripting normal civilians and sending them into the bloodiest conflict of the 21th century with only a rifle and few weeks of basic training could cause mental illnesses. Who would have thought. 

Angela, seeing that she wasn't about to move any time soon, put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don't be like this, it's only one hour every week, and it's for your own good.”

Still no reaction

Angela shifted closer

“If you just try, maybe” she looked away, complicated emotions flashing on her face “maybe you will be able to become yourself again” 

Amélie grabbed her hand and jerked her forward, Angela lost her footing and landed right into her lap, legs reflexively wrapping around her waist. A strong hand wrapped itself around her back and pushed Angela against her. 

Their lips met, Amélie capturing the doctor's mouth in a wet, sloppy kiss.

“A-Amélie” 

She didn't let her finnish, once against invading her mouth with her tongue. She let her hands venture under Angelas clothing, quickly finding the the sensitive parts like so many times before

“A-Am… Amélie, stop”

The doctor moaned 

She left her mouth, settling for her, neck, planting kisses up and down, her hands continued doing its work. 

“Stop !”

She nearly fell out of her chair as a pair of hands firmly pushed her away. Angela was suddenly standing, hastily rearranging her clothes, and glaring with a murderous expression. 

“You just wanted to get away with not going to the psychiatrist, didn't you ?”

Amélie's plan busted, she stayed silent.

Sighting, Angela stood over her, hands on her hips, like they were back to her student days

“Look, Amélie, you have to go, unless you want to be escorted by the police again, we can meet at my place after you finish, alright ?”

Amélie, realizing this was the best deal she was going to get, stood up, and began walking to the car, displaying such pain and misery that she could as well be caring a cross for her own crucifixion. As she turned on the engine (with a button, cmnon, what's wrong with keys) she dialed the address into her navigation and set off. She didn't bother with the gas pedal, keeping her speed to exactly 30 miles, allowing other cars to pass when she could, and generally being the most law abiding BMW driver in the entire country. She wasn't looking forward to this.

/- /- /

Doctor Satya “Symmetra” Vaswani wasn't looking forward to this. She was one of the best psychologists in the country, that, aside from her perfect success rate, meant she did not have prejudice against her patients. Still, the woman she was about to meet gave her the chills. 

She was used to treating veterans, in fact, in the last few months, she did exclusively that. As it often was, the people in charge decided for another overseas adventure. They reaped all the glory from the victorious war, and left the dysfunctional traumatized people who did the dirty job for them to doctors like her to deal with. 

Still, Satya did her duty, and helped those people as she could. It was more difficult than what she usually dealt with, but she wasn't called one of the best for nothing. After some time, she developed quite an effective procedure, and was able to help the troubled men and women who bled for their country to get their life together. The woman she was about to meet, she was something else entirely. 

She picked up a folder with the name “Amélie Lacroix” on it. 

The picture showed, admittedly, a very attractive woman in her late 20s, under it were the basic information. Very basic. 

She took the papers and began reading through them. 

Amélie Lacriox, age 28, joined the military on 12 January 2020. Served as a marksman in operation [RETRACTED], as a part of the [RETRACTED]. Extremely skilled in [RETRACTED] played a crucial role in the elimination of [RETRACTED]. Was awarded Distinguished Service Cross for [RETRACTED]

Satya kept flipping the pages

[RETRACTED]  
[RETRACTED]  
[RETRACTED]

This was something new. She worked with a number of veterans from many branches of the military, but this was the first time she was denied information. According to the number of papers, her involvement in the war was a heavy one, most soldiers didn't have more than a few pages, but she was holding what seemed like a small book. Not like it did her any good, 90% of it had [RETRACTED] over it, the pieces of information between not being enough to decipher anything. 

She was not stupid, it wasn't hard to imagine what the reason for that was. It likely meant that Amélie came from some of the less standart branches of the military, probably special operations of some kind, the ones that liked to keep their identity hidden. 

The term “Black ops” came to mind - False flag operations, assassinations, kidnapping, infiltration and so on. The things that didn't fit the archetype of heroic, honorable american soldier, but were still crucial in waging a successful warfare.

Satya sighted quietly. The task of a psychiatrist was essentially to manipulate their patient, in a good sense of course. It would be easy if it was some muscle for a brain kind of guy, but the woman in question had a naturally sharp mind, one Satya didn't like to twelve in too deep. 

A knock on the door sounded through the room. 

“Here we go”

“Ah miss Lacroix, please come in”

The woman did, she took off her jacket and sat on the chair. From her face, it was easy to tell that she did not want to be here any more than she did. That was a problem, she could not help the woman if she actively refused it. 

“Miss Lacriox, do you realize that my sessions are priced on $400 per hour, yet the government is paying your bill completely, the least you could do is to at least cooperate with me”

Amélie shrugged 

“How kind of them, is it because they honestly care about their people, or perhaps because veterans are committing suicides en masse, and the negative press is threatening current  
President's chance for re-election. Could be either of those, really.” 

Satya forced herself to keep her neutral expression in spite of her ironic words, but she had no way to debunk what Amélie was saying, probably because she was right. 

So she chose to ignore her point entirely.

“So miss Lacroix, how are you feeling”

“I am well”

“Hmm good to hear, tell me, what were you up to this week”

“Working”

“Anything else ?”

“No” 

Ugh, she really wasn't paid enough for this

“Have you felt any stronger emotion recently” 

“No”

This was really going nowhere, maybe it was time for her to cut the chase. 

“Alraight, I will be blunt with you miss Lacroix, according to what I have seen, you are suffering from a rather serious case of emotional detachment disorder, also certain aspects of PTSD.” 

She expected some reaction, at least some degree of surprise or discomfort, instead Amélie shrugged.

“I sleep well at night” 

“That's part of the problem miss Lacroix, somebody in your position should definitely not sleep well, doubts, fear, and a sense of guilt is a normal reaction to what you have been through. 

“If I had any of those, we wouldn't be talking, strong live and weak perish, either in battle or by their own hand, that's how it works on the battlefield.”

Satya took generous sip of coffee, leaning against the chair, and gazing on the ceiling, hoping that the fire alarm would start ringing and she would have an excuse to get out of here. No such luck, it seems she has to carry on.

“Tell me, when was the last time you felt any strong emotion ?” 

“Hmm, it was probably during my last mission, the one I got injured on and sent home afterwards”

“Let me guess, if you told me any details, you would have to kill me ?”

“No, I am no longer an employee of the military, it would be someone else's job.” 

Satya tried to keep a straight face, as her attempt at making a joke failed, and the answer she was given didn't make her any more enthusiastic about her current situation. 

“I can't tell you much, but the point was, we found ourselves walking into an ambush and got greatly outnumbered. There was no hope for reinforcements so we had to shoot our way out.  
We held our ground for eighteen hours. Eventually, I ran out of ammo, so I fixed the bayonet and engaged in melee. Thankfully, it was already night by then, and the overall confusion allowed me to get close enough, to the point they could not fire without hitting each other. I made quick work of the attacking force and we slipped out before they managed to recover.”

“I see, I understand such experience must have been deeply traumatic, is that the cause of your repressed emotions ?” 

For the first time that evening, Amélies facade crumbled, a look of honest surprise taking hold of her features. 

“No nothing of the sort, what I felt was, satisfaction”

Satya stilled. Amélie continued.

“That primal empowering feeling, the rush of adrenalin as my blade slid out of their bodies. It is hard to explain to someone who has never taken a life, but that was what we lived for, even as all other feelings have been dulled, that addictive pleasure, it was never ending” 

Sayta was feeling like her heart had stopped, she wanted to move, to say something, but the shock stopped her dead in her tracs. 

“Something to matter doctor ?”

“No… Its-Its nothing, very interesting, ehm, you are a highschool teacher, correct ?”

“Yes” 

“Don't you feel that…. Perhaps it's not the best job for you at the moment ?” 

“Are you trying to tell me I could endanger children ?”

The look had Satya sweating

“No nothing of the sort, I just…”

Amélie smiled, but there was nothing reassuring about that, she looked like a predator sizing up its prey. 

“It was a trick question” 

She leaned in closer to her, Satya found herself pushing her back against the chair as much as she could

“As the war progressed, our enemies employed a great number of child soldiers to compensate for their losses, in the last few weeks of the fighting, it was rare to encounter an enemy over the age of 15.”

Amélie sighted

“I did not like shooting children”

For the first time in their session, a wave of sympathy towards the woman struck her. She was thinking of her like some sort of animal, but she was just a troubled, mentally ill woman, who found herself in this situation against her will. The whole point of her joining the army was to save her brother from being conscripted. 

She slowly put her hand on her shoulder.

“Of course, no sane person would, you just did what you had to”

“Because they were harder to hit”

As Satya's brain processed her words, she jerked her hand off, like she was bitten by a spider.

Amélie stood up, she leaned against the table, and watched as Satya tried to roll back. She firmly caught the back of the chair, not allowing the woman to escape, instead, she shuffled it forward, so they were face to face. 

“Your pupils are widening, your fingers are shaking, are you not well doctor ?”

Satya did not answer, just continued breathing heavily 

She froze, as a finger touched her neck. Amélie placed two fingers against her throat. 

At that very moment, she knew she was going to die, her demise certain, she closed her eyes and awaited her end. 

After a few seconds, she opened them again. Amélie was there, just a few inches from her own face, wearing a satisfied smirk. 

“Your heart pulse is far above the norm, are you sure you are alright, It would seem like you are entering a shock.”

“Wha.. what-t”

Amélie wrapped her long arms around her shoulders, locking her into a forced embrace. her knee grinding between doctors legs, she cupped her face in her hands, turning it sideways.   
Lips nearly touching her ear she whispered.

“You know, you can put an end to this easily, just declare me mentally healthy, I will bother you no longer, all it takes is singing a single paper, and we are out of each other's lives. 

It was very tempting offer, impossibly so.

*smack* 

Satya slapped her hand away and got up, pushing her back. She wiped the sweat away, and did her best to appear as resolute as she could. 

“I will not. I have my duty as a doctor, no matter how you may threaten me, I will not back down.

For a second or two nothing happened, Satya knew how much of a gamble she was taking, the women in front of her could break her neck in a heartbeat, but there was no way she was going to proclaim this monster healthy. 

“Very well” 

And with those words, she walked out of her office.

As the doors closed, Satya fell back into her chair, energy leaving her as adrenalin began to fade out. 

She really was not paid enough for this.

/- /- /

A bell rang. Amélie let go of the button, hearing Angela already walking towards the door. As they opened, she entered the apartment. Warm cup of coffee was already laid on the table for her. 

“So, how did it go”

“Poorly” 

“Ah” 

Amélie usually did like to use more neutral words, even when describing something that wasn't to her liking, so with such a direct answer, it was clear that something didn't go according to plan.

“What happened ?”

Amélie sat on the couch, enjoying the feeling of the soft material against her back.

“I may or may have not tried to pressure her to write me of as fully recovered”

Angela looked down to her, worried. 

“Is she still alive ?”

“Of course I did not lift a finger against her, I will have you know I received complex training in psychological warfare from one of the best specialists in both the army and the CIA. 

“But you still failed, no” 

Amélie kept drinking for another few seconds, Angela was fairly sure that she had to burn her throat from the hot liquid several times over by now. After another few seconds of silence, she answered. 

“Maybe”

Angela chuckled, and walked behind the couch. She wrapped her hands around the sitting girl, resting her head on her shoulder. She inhaled, taking in the woman's sweet scent.

“You still went, and I think that a reward is in order” 

Amélie hummed in agreement, satisfied smile returning to her face as the beautiful doctor began nuzzling on her neck. She felt the soft hands exploring her body, and breathed out in relief. After all that happened today, she really needed to take the edge off. With that, she let Angela work her magic, and hoped that tomorrow will be at least somewhat clamer.

/- /- /

As always her wish was turned into complete opposite.

She indeed had a few minutes of clam, before Angela barged into her office. 

She stood up immediately upon seeing her expression. The usually elegant woman was painting heavily, face red and filled with worry. 

“You gotta go see this” 

The clear urgency in her voice had her following the doctor without even a word of question. As they rushed through the halls, all students were pushed out of the way, barely having the time to look back before they were gone.

What possibly could cause angela to be this disstressed. Was someone wounded, if so why would she need her? She had medical training, but nothing on the sort of level Angela possesed. Was there a fight?, that happened from time to time, but wouldn't warrant this sort of urgency. Her thoughts were interrupted, as they finally reached the medical room. 

There sat no other than Lena Oxton, looking into the ground, clearly also stressed, but not freaking out as Angela was. Amélie scanned the girl's body, she saw no apparent Injury. Her eyes were not sunken and she wasn't pale either, so it didn't look like an internal bleeding.

“What's with her”

“Look at her face”

Amélie did, finally finding the reason for Angela panic. There, on her left cheek, laid big red mark, 

“The girl was hit”

Angela said, her tone carried no hint of a doubt. 

“It was just a training accident, I..”

She closed her mouth as Amélie suddenly cupped her cheeks with both hands. Her hands were hard, but gentle. She leaned in, their faces were now nearly touching. Lena was breathing heavily, face so close to hers, and with great view of her sizeable cleavage. 

“Oh my god it's finally happening”

And just as the thought left her mind, Amélie suddenly stepped away.

“Quite an interestingly shaped training accident” 

With all the blood rushing into her face from the intimate contact, the shape of her wound was easily identifiable as a palm with fingers. 

“Hmm, see how the centre of the palm is redder than the fingers, she was struck with the hard bottom part of the palm first, the fingers are also perfectly straight, meaning that the attacker intentionally hardened his hand before it hit.”

Angela could make it out herself of course, but she didn't seem to be in her right mind right now. 

“It was your father wasn't it, the filthy piece of shit, I swear I…”

She never heard Angela swear before, then again, she never saw her this angry before either. Angela cared for the students immensely, and with Lena's sports career, the nurse spent more time with the girl than most of the others. 

“Why?!, fucking hell, Lena, tell me” 

“I-can't tell”

As Angela held the girl by the shoulders, her distress doing more harm than good, Amélie was deep in thoughts. There were some rumors about mr. Oxton, not being exactly father of the year material, but this was the first time Lena was left with a physical proof of his shitty parenting. Looking at the wound again, it was far more likely that was simply the first time he flipped enough to hit her on the school day. The pieces connecting in her head, she came up with the answer.

“Did you tell him you are gay ?” 

Both women in front of her froze 

“How did you..”

“Well, you spend 45 minutes every day staring at my breast like there is a black hole between them. I also remember your father protesting about us teaching the evolution theory, and he smelled like a vodka factory. It's not too hard to put two and two together. 

Angela, turned around, the anger now redirected at her. 

“Christ Amélia, can you be at least bit more considerate, for example not sounding like you don't give a fuck. 

“I-it was..”

Both women went quiet as Lenna spoke

“He actually won in the casino this time, and his favourite team won the championship. He was so happy that he didn't even drink that much in the evening, so I thought… this is the best chance I am going to get, I tried to tell him…”

Angela seemed to finally get a hold on herself, and embraced the now sobbing girl. Though her face still remained painted with an absolute furry.

“I am going to kill that that motherfucker, dammit”

Amélie pulled out a phone out of her pocket

“I am going to call the man and tell him to make his way here, this is best to be resolved immediately”

“Yeah, thanks Amélia, do just that” 

“Hello, am I speaking with mr. Oxton? Yes… I need you to come to the school for a few minutes….no, nothing of the sort, but it is necessary.. Yes… See you there.”

“He's coming”

“Good, I can't wait.”

Angela still kept the scared girl firmly pressed to her side.

“I will accompany you”

“I can deal with him myself”

“If he's the type to let his hands do the talking, it may be better for me to be there to make sure he doesn't step over the line.” 

Angela, already imagining the man getting beaten up, agreed easily enough. 

“Ehm”

Lenna spoke, fear apparent in her features 

“Please dont bring him here, I.. I”

“Lenna”

She turned towards her 

“As long as you are here with me, I won't let anything happen to you, you have my word.” 

That seemed to calm her a little, with that out of the way, she turned to Angela. 

“I would also like to ask you to allow me do the talking”

“What do you mean, why?”

“You are angry, and currently not in control of your own emotions, likely to make a mistake, if we want this to go smoothly, we must proceed with cool heads. 

Anger resurfacing again, Angela shouted

“Of course I am fucking angry Amélie, I just found out that our student is a target of domestic abuse, and for god knows how long! 

She pointed at her accusingly.

“I know you are fucked in the head, but how can you be this calm when we are talking about student being hit, do you know what the girl must have been through, what terrible things are happening to her? How can you just stand here, looking like this doesn't even concern you” 

“Because it does in fact concern me”

Amélie countred and continued

“If I let you have your own way, you will just shout at the guy how much of a cunt he is until you are satisfied. And what do you think will happen after that, that he will understand the error of his ways? No, he will come home pissed, and beat the poor girl twice as much for telling us, and nothing will change. You speak of helping her, but what you are about to do is only helping yourself, and making her life more miserable in the process.”

Amélie did not shout, neither did she raise her voice, but there was intensity in those words that made Angela shut up Immediately. 

“I-I..”

All the bravado leaving her, Angela was left to just stand there, looking utterly lost as the realization began to hit her. There was no more time to dwell on it, since a truck had stopped in the parking lot, and mr. Oxton stepped out of the vehicle.

“Alraight, I will let you do your thing..”

With that said, the trio relocated into Amélie's office, waiting for the man to show himself. 

When the door opened, a large man stepped in. As he did, Lenna instinctively put her head down, trying to appear as small as she could get. 

HIs eyes settled on the two women instead. 

“Ladies”

He flashed them a smile, that was likely supposed to look alluring, but the number of missing teeth and horrible smell ruined that impression.

Amélie looked swiftly in Angela's direction, seeing her angrily stomping her feet, but managing to hold herself back, she approached the man. 

“Mr. Oxton, thank you for meeting us so unexpectedly, please sit down”

She did not comment on how he held her hand for longer than it was necessary, neither on the obvious way he was checking her out. 

When he finally looked in Lena's way, she proceeded to shuffle back, doing the best to fuse herself with the chair she was sitting on. 

“So what did my idiot of a daughter do this time ?”

Amélie did not miss how Angela's knuckles were whitening from the way she was holding onto the table. She still held herself back somehow. 

“We are not here to talk about what she did, rather your own actions”

“Eh ?”

“You hit your daughter”

The flat tone caught the man off guard, but he recovered quickly. 

“And what if I did, it's none of your business.”

Before Amélie got a chance to say something, he continued.

“She just told me she is a got damm fag,” He wayved his hands around, like it was suppoused to make his point more valid. “In my own house, all these years, a mother fucking gay ass faggot !”

As his outburst went on, Lenna looked progressively more and more distressed, hiding her head in her hands, eyes closing, only tears flowing through them. Her breathing was heavy and uneven. If this goes out for much longer, she could enter a shock, Amélie thought to herself.

“You sickening piece of shit !”

And that was where Angela's patience inevitably ran out. She did not blame her, she held out for longer than she thought she would. 

Yet, she continued calmly, like nothing strange was happening. 

“Mr. Oxton, no matter your religious beliefs, you are not entitled to beat your daughter, if this keeps on, I will be forced to contact the authorities and have the whole matter taken to court.” 

That did not go well

The man stood up, launching the chair back, making his way to the helpless Lena Oxton. 

“You think I give a fuck, shes my kid, I can beat the shit out of her whenever I fucking want !”

Lena, seeing his approach, rushed behind her teacher, peeking through her shoulder. 

Amélie stood up too, allowing the terrified girl to hide behind her.

“Mr. Oxton, If you attempt to hurt my student, I swear I will break your hand”

He, ignoring her words, shoved her out of the way with his meaty hand.

Lena was grabbed by the hair violently, her father pulled her to the ground, and raised his hand. Lena closed her eyes, and prepared for the pain she already felt for god knows how many times. 

But it never struck.

Instead, Amélie caught his hand and smashed it knuckles-first into the table next to them. He only had time to shoot her a confused look, before her knee shot upwards. 

“AAAHHHH !!!

Screaming filled the room, as bone broke and proceeded to penetrate flesh and muscle, sticking out like some grotesque candle.

“EAYAHEEEE !!” 

Lena's father threw his arm up and down, joint shattered, it flopped in unnatural angles. Blood was shooting out and spilling all over the room from the big gaping wound in his arm, through which half broken bone was sticking out, thanks to the pure momentum of her leg.

The chain of animal-like cries was cut short, as a swift strike to his chin sent the lare man to the ground. 

Amélie, unconcerned, looked towards the two women behind her. 

Lena stood frozen solid, in the same position as she was before, eyes wide in shock and disbelief, as she watched the man responsible for all her suffering curled up into a ball, still bleeding. 

Angela was equally unmoving, watching her blood covered friend giving her questioning look. How absolutely calm and bored she appeared after nearly tearing someone's arm off, she had no Idea. Her face was as neutral as always, and for the first time, she looked through her ex student and good friend, and saw not Amélie Lacroix, but the Widwomaker, a merciless killer. It terrified her to no end. 

While Angela was having her emotional dilemma, Amélie dialed 911, and waited for the police to arrive on the scene. She did not have to wait long. 

After few minutes a police officer showed up, surrounded by a bunch of medics who immediately went to work on the lying man.

“So what the hell happened here?”

“I was attacked officer”

The policeman gave her pessimistic look

“People who were attacked tend to look at least slightly upset”

This was looking bad, Angela thought, he was hostile, but did not immediately attack her. Angela was no lawyer, but she was a doctor, and that sort of damage was extremely severe, far too much to write off as a simple case of self defence. The policeman seemed to think that too, since he looked less than impressed with Amélies reasoning. 

Instead of any answer or plead, Amélie rolled up her sleeve, showing a small tattoo of some kind.   
She did not recognize it, but the man apparently did, for his expression changed completely. Without any word exchanged between them, the officer saluted, gestured to the medical team carrying the man to follow him, and left, just like that.

Angela finally recovered, standing up, her legs still shaking. 

“What just happened…” 

Amélie ignored her question, looked over her briefly, deciding she looked okay enough, she moved to Lena 

“Lena are you alright”

The girl looked up to her, expression confused, legs still shaking. 

“Ye-Yeah… I think I am” 

“Good” 

She gently put her hand on the girl's shoulder, leading her out of the room

“Angela, Tell Jac- headmaster Morrison what happened.” 

Angela still had enough mind to ask 

“Should I tell him how he… “Attacked you” “

“I appreciate the thought, but you can tell him what really happened, I will speak to him later:” 

With that she was out of the room. Lena was still out of it, so she let herself be led like a straw doll, and eventually sat into the car as Amélie accelerated towards her house.

/- /- /

“Do you want something to drink ?”

“No I am okay..”

Amélie looked towards the girl sitting on her bed. She was all but okay.

She had seen this expression for more times than she could count, the girl was shellshocked. Dazed expression, blank stare, wide eyes and shaking form. Same as the soldiers who just lost a friend or have been made to kill for the first time. The traumatic event which caused it was different this time but it did not matter. 

Amélie sighted

She wasn't good at comforting people, not back then, not now. She always left the broken men to themselves, and as she was assigned to the special unit, she no longer met anyone in need of comfort. 

Maybe it would be better to just leave her be...

Tears began falling onto her mattress.

Amélie sat next to the weeping girl.

Slowly, careful not to startle her, she wrapped her hands around her, and pulled her into an embrace. Lena stilled, but relaxed her body into Amélies soon after. 

“Look, I am not really good at this but….”

Lena looked to her, her red watery eyes bore into hers.

“As long as I am here, you will never be hit again, never be belittled, nor abused.”

The girl's hands tightened around her midriff, face firmly planted onto her chest, she felt her shirt getting wet from the tears.

“You are safe Lena”

She said no more, simply pulling her closer and stroking her head gently.

After some time, she noticed the tears stopped flowing and Lena's breathing became even, looking at the girl, she found out she was sleeping like a rock. It was an understandable reaction after all the stress she had been through today.

Very careful not to disturb her, she laid Lena on the bed. After a second or two thinking, she lifted her head to put a pillow under it and threw a blanket over her body. 

Seemed like she was sleeping on the couch tonight. 

After a final look at the girl to make sure she was comfortable, Amélie slipped out of the room, closing the door without making a sound. 

“What a strange girl…”


	3. Chapter 3

As the sunlight shone through the curtains, a pair of brown eyes shot open.

“Ughh, how late is it, did I forget to set the alarm ?” 

She reached for the digital clock, standing on a nearby nightstand next to her bed to check the time, before she could however, she realized something.

“Wait, I don't have a digital clock, and there is no nightstand in my room”

The morning dizziness rapidly leaving her, she quickly looked around and took in her surroundings. 

For starters, the bed was larger than her own, the soft fabric clearly superior to her own bedding back at home. She swept aside the velvet cushions and finally left the bed, bare feet standing on the warm carpet. 

While all the objects inside seemed high quality, the room itself wasn't necessarily luxurious, aside from the obvious pieces of furniture, it seemed almost empty, no pompous decorations, no personal items scattered around. Walls and the rest of the interior following neat modernist black and white pattern, but all was bare otherwise. 

Done observing the room, the situation was finally beginning to weigh down on the girl. 

“Alright Lena, you are in some weird ass room, you don't remember how you got here, this.. is not good” 

She checked her body, and was relieved to find no signs of injury or her clothing being swapped. .

“Ok, I dont know whats happening, but I gotta get out”

She opened a drawer, hoping to find a phone or some sort of clue to help her understand what was happening. 

What she found did not really reassure her about her current situation. 

There laid a handgun and a knife. Lena didn't know much about guns, but the big black weapon looked like something straight out of an action movie. She carefully picked it up.

it was lighter than she expected, the plastic handle fitted her hands well, the whole thing seemed pretty high tech. In a moment of clarity, she realized that she knows nothing about operating a firearm, and put it back.

If someone kidnapped her, why would they leave a gun for her to find ?

Deciding it was time to act, she grabbed the knife, the long black blade still looked haunting, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about accidentally shooting herself.

Lena reached for the door, it was open.

She slowly crept through the hallway, only to hear a noise coming from the lower level.

Seeing the staircase leading down, she took a deep breath, steadied herself, climbed down, and put her hand on the door knob, it being the only thing between her and her assailant.

Blade in hand, she kicked the door open

Only to be greeted with the scene of Amélie Lacroix with a cup of coffee in her hand and toast sticking out of her mouth.

*clang* 

The knife fell to the ground

Images of the earlier day began assaulting her mind. Doctor Ziegler and professor Lacroix examining her wounds, the two of them fighting briefly, only for her father to enter the scene. 

She remembered all the things he said, how she was about to be hit, only to be saved by professor Lacroix. Her face cringed when she remembered what happened next - the sound of her father's arm being broken, all the blood, her teacher standing over his body...

Low chuckle broke her line of thoughts. 

“Ah Lena, you are finally awake. I see that waking up in an unknown house startled you. Worry not, after such a traumatic experience, it is common for your memories to be a bit hazy.”

She wanted to say something, anything, yet nothing came forth, and she was just standing there, looking like an idiot. 

Thankfully, professor Lacroix ignored her inability to formulate a single sentence, and merely gestured her to sit at the table. 

“Come Lena, you don't want your breakfast getting cold, do you ?” 

“Uhh, Ye-Yeah, sure..”

As she sat down, she resumed recalling the earlier day. Dad looked really hurt, not enough to die, but damm, proff wasn't holding back. She found herself feeling conflicted. He wasn't the best father, far from it, but he still kept her fed and relatively well. But, when she saw him, bleeding, face full of intense pain, she remembered all the times he beat her, and felt… satisfied. Did it make her a bad person? No normal person should enjoy seeing their father suffering, no matter the circumstances. 

Two toasts with a generous amount of cheese and ham together with a steaming cup of tea were laid on her table. 

“Eat up, you haven't had anything since yesterday's school lunch. 

With that, her memories focused on the woman in front of her.

After all was done, she took her home, and…

“You are safe Lena”

She remembered her kind words, how she hugged her, and allowed her to cry on her shoulder. 

She was warm, her touches so gentle, the way her fingers sailed through her hair as she was comforting her….

She thought that her beloved teacher was gone, but only now she saw just how wrong she was, Amélie Lacroix may have changed a lot, but inside, she was still that caring woman who wouldn't hesitate to extend her hand to a young suffering girl, despite not having any obligation to. 

“It is fortunate all happened on Friday, I can hardly imagine sending you to the school right now.”

Again, the words of her teacher changed the direction of her thoughts completely. 

All the excitement and embarrassing feelings leaving her, she only realized the full scope of the situation. 

Because she let the teachers find out what happened, her father had gotten into an argument with them, attempted to publicly beat her, and was left seriously injured. If only Amélie let him punch her, then she could just go back, things would settle down eventually. 

Now, there was no way for her to return, he would probably beat her to death on sight, seeing as from his point of view, the entire situation was her fault. 

Her fingers dug through the toast, letting it crumble on the plate, she was shaking, all the muscles in her body tense, she began breathing heavily. 

Pair of hands were laid on her shoulders.

“You see Lena, to me, person is only worth as much as their word - for example, I swore to your father that if he were to touch you I would break his arm, and even if it wasn't the best course of action I went through with it because such was my word I had given to him.”

“Wha-what do you mean ?”

“I gave you my word that I will protect you, and I plan to keep my promise”

“But my dad is out for my head, and it's not like I can stay here forever”

“Why not ?”

“Eh ?”

Confused, she looked up to the woman, only to be met with her trademark blank expression, though her eyes were serious as always. 

“As you can see, my house is more than big enough for two people, and it's not like I lack funding for taking care of you.” 

She was right in that regard, the house did seem far too big for only a single person, and judging by the vehicle in front of it, she wasn't exactly on the poor side.

“But still.., are you alright with just letting me stay here for however long I want ?” 

After all, it meant they would share the house, it was hard to imagine that her professor, no matter how kind she was, would just accept her student as a roommate, especially for potentially long duration of time.

“Yes”

The absolute certainty with which she said that had her stop in her tracks. 

“I don't mind the company”

Lena looked to her with puzzled expression, trying to understand what exactly was just happening, but Amélie's poker face stood as strong as always.

“Do you really mean it professor ?”

“Amélie” 

“Huh ?”

“My name is Amélie”

She repeated, like she was talking to an especially dull child. 

“If we are to share this house from now on, it would be strange if you kept addressing me as a professor, feel free to use my name, I know it's hard to believe, but I have little love for formalities. 

Was this an opposite day or something, did the scariest teacher in the school just tell her to call her by her name ? And telling her to not be formal with her? 

In the end, she compromised.

“Okay miss Lacroix.”

Her eyes bore into hers with strange intensity.

“Say it”

“Am…”

She felt her cheeks starting to heat up”

“Go on”

“A- Amélie”

“Good girl”

Lena stood there, absolutely mortified, her face completely red. 

And just like that, the two began eating, Amélie acting like absolutely nothing out of the ordinary was happening, while Lena was stuffing her face full of toast to hide her rising embarrassment.

As she took a sip of the hot green tea her teacher prepared, all the fear and panic began gradually leaving her. 

“She wont kick me out, even if I have only been a bother to her, she allowed me to stay here basically indefinitely”

For the first time since forever, all the constant pressure and fear was lifted off her shoulders.

“Well, guess this is my life now..”

She allowed herself to relax, letting her body rest against the comfortable padded chair.

Now no longer freaking out about her situation, her attention shifted to her professor. 

If anyone asked her how professor Lacroix ate, she would probably answer that it would be with grace and elegance, carefully bringing small pieces of food to her mouth, careful to not let even the tiniest piece fall off. That would be just like the collected and refined woman she was. 

Reality was something else entirely, Amélie was pushing all the food inside her mouth with such vigor that it left Lena wondering if the toast was going to eat her if she didn't do so first.

Further observing her professor, she felt her embarrassment beginning to rise again. It was likely because of her distress that she didn't notice it up until now, but her teacher was… not overly dressed. 

In fact, all that Amélie wore was a long loose shirt, and judging from the jiggling of her chest every time she moved, there was no bra underneath.

“I see you already emptied your cup, let me get you some more” 

Lena wanted to politely thank her, but as soon as Amélie rose from her chair, Lenas mouth closed, and opened again, no sound coming forth. 

“She has no pants”

The long shirt was covering her underwear like some sort of miniskirt, but it still left her bare long toned legs for Lena to see. She was beginning to drool. 

“Ah, it seems we ran out of tea, I should still have some more somewhere around here.

With that, she bent over. 

If someone asked Lena if there is something such as absolute perfection, she would answer negatively. Like all good athletes, Lena was of the opinion that everyone should always strive forward and constantly improve, believing in a concept like perfection meant that at a certain level, you would stop with an effort to improve, and that would inevitably lead to failure.

However, as she watched the scene in front of her unfold, her beliefs were left shaken.

Shirt slid down slightly as Amélie bent her back, allowing Lena to get a superb view of her rear, covered only by thin black underwear. 

Her ass was an absolute perfection.

“Here, I knew I kept some more in the bottom drawer, so what do you prefer Lena, green or black ?”

Amélie's attention on her, Lena froze, she couldn't let her saviour know that she was staring at her ass. She had to say something, some witty commentary that would divert any suspicion.

The sudden movement left Amélie's breast jiggling. 

“Ueahhhgg”  
Lenna mumbled incoherently, her mouth drooling. 

It wasn't her proudest moment. 

Perhaps gods finally took pity on her, because before her suffering could continue, a bell rang. 

Amélie let her be, and moved to the door, seemingly unbothered by the fact that she was going to meet her visitor nearly undressed. 

As the door opened, a well endowed blond figure came through.

“Amélie, I am glad to see you well…”

As she peeked through the hallway, her brown eyes met the other woman's blue ones, causing an immediate reaction.

Angela rushed past Amélie, and grabbed the girl like she was about to vanish. Before Lena even had the chance to tell what was going on, Angela's beautiful face was pressed against hers. 

It was riddled with worry. 

“Oh my god, Lena, are you alright ? After all that happened..,how are you feeling? If there is something wrong don't hesitate to..., what am I saying ?, everything is wrong, did you sleep well ? and what about…”

Angela bombarded her with questions, continuing to show absolutely no regard for the concept of personal space as she was repeatedly hugging her and checking her body for injuries. 

“Angela, you are making her uncomfortable”

While Amélies comment was well meant, she was all but uncomfortable. The Doctor's monstrous chest was firmly squashed against her own, her tender hands were gently examining her body. This was her second time in the last 24 hours being smothered by a beautiful older woman. She was having the time of her life. 

“I have to make sure she's okay, I can't even image just how terribly would this influence her mental state if left untreated” 

Her face firmly pressed against Angela's chest, she couldn't but agree, who is she to argue with a doctor anyway ?

“We won't have to worry about her mental state if you suffocate her to death, look how red her face is” 

As the words left Amélie's mouth, Lena felt the comfortable warmth disappear, Angela backed off, looking mildly embarrassed by the scene she had caused.

“Ah I am sorry Lena, it's just that I was so worried, what happened yesterday was not something anybody should go through”

She refrained from pointing out that it wasn't the first time, seeing as it wouldn't make the already distressed doctor any clamer. 

Though willpower alone, she managed to push all the feelings from the intimate contact aside and let her face gain normal colour again.

“Yeah I am alright, professor Lacroix took care of me, and ehm.. comforted me after.

Angela shot a surprised look towards Amélie.

She just shrugged.

“And she told me I can stay here until things calm down” 

“Really ?”

Amélie nodded

“I will look after her as long as needed, I gave the girl my word, it's not like I have anything better to do”

“I don't want to bother you Amélie, I can take her to my place, you have already done enough.” 

“It's better if I guard her, there is always a possibility that her father may try to retrieve her”

A look of disgust took hold of Angela's expression as she was reminded of the man again. 

“Ah I see, that may be for the best” 

And then she smiled, and took Lenas face into her hands.

“Remember Lena, no matter what happens, me and Amélie will always be here for you, your situation may not be ideal, but you are a strong girl and we will overcome it together, alright? 

No words leaving her, all she did was to gaze into those kind caring eyes.

Smiling like that, she really did look like an angel.

The spell was broken as the bell rang again. 

“Oh, were you expecting any other visitors Amélie” 

“Take a guess” 

Angelas face cringed 

“Do you think it's him…”

“You are the doctor here Angela, it hasn't even been 24 hours, you know as well as I that he's probably still pumped full of painkillers. 

“Sorry, you are right, I am being stupid”

The fear did not leave her when she thought of the other possibilities. 

“It may be the police”

“Unlikely, the matter was already dealt with”

Before Angela could take any more wild guesses, Amélie opened the door. 

There, several figures stood and fiddled nervously. 

“C'mon say something”

“Why me ?”

“That's how we voted”

“Don't I have any say in this ?” 

“No” 

“Guys stop fighting, you are embarrassing everyone” 

“I don't remember asking your opinion”

Amélie stood in silence and watched as her students argued with each other, choosing whom to condemn to the terrible fate of addressing their french teacher. After a few seconds of inner turmoil, Lucio was pushed forward. With no other options, he accepted his fate. 

“So, ehm, hey professor, nice house you got there, looking very, uhm homey” 

After Ashe's elbow struck his side, he got to the point 

“So we heard that some bad shi- I mean stuff went down yesterday, we just wanted to make sure Lena is alright, you know.

It was interesting how much could change in a few years. When she met Lena, she was absolutely alone, without as much as a single friend. Now, all those people cared for her to such a degree that they were willing to face the scariest teacher in the whole school just to make sure she was well. 

Courage has to be rewarded, so she gestured to them to go inside. Lucio went first, Ashe following close second, Winston carefully lowered his head and squeezed his massive body through the door. Hana went after him, for once not having her eyes glued to a screen. Brigitte closed the unusual parade, careful to leave the door slightly open. 

Heh, securing an escape route before going into action, she would make for a good operative.

“Lena! We heard some fucked up shit happened, so we came to check on you”

“I only came because I was curious, It's not like I care or anything” 

“I am relieved to see you well Lena, and so is Ashe, even when she refuses to admit it”

“Shut up Winston”

“Jeez, get a room you two”

“SHUT UP HANA!”

“Ehm guys, she looks alright, so can we go ?, I am not scared, I just… forgot something at home.” 

“Hey I am as good as ever, no need to worry” 

“So is it true that your father tried to beat you up in school ?”

Lucio didn't look happy that he had to be the one to ask, but someone had to. 

“Yeah he did try, but then, prof came, and she was like *bam* *Whoosh*” 

Lena did several kung fu poses, punching the air in front of her

“And he was like “Nooo please spare meee” but she was like “I won't forgive you for hurting my student” 

Amélie closed her eyes 

“And *bang* spinning kick, right in his face, and then…” 

Amélie stopped the girl, before she convinced her classmates that they had some action movie-like kung fu battle on the school grounds. 

“If you wish to, feel free to use the bedroom, I understand you have much to talk about” 

The students practically vanished, carrying confused Lena up the stars, intending to put as much distance between them and their teacher as they could.

“Seems like Lena has made some good friends over the years, things are quite different than they used to be”

“Yeah..”

Now that the two of them were alone, Amélie noticed that Angela seemed somewhat anxious, she was fiddling her hands, and refusing to meet her eyes. Her expression reminded her one of a student, who was about to explain her why exactly they forgot their homework at home. 

“Is something to matter Angela? I think the girl is fine, for now anyway”

“No, I mean yes, it's... ” 

Angela still had her eyes firmly glued to the ground, shuffling her legs, various expressions quickly washing over her face, none of them looked particularly positive.

“There is something I need to tell you, it's about what happened yesterday.”

“Out with it then”

“You are right, I won't back away now, this needs to be said”

Angela straightened her posture, her face now resolute

“I am sorry” 

“What ?”

Anxiety took hold of her features again, but she did not break eye contact. 

“For what I said to you, it was just wrong, no, it was fucked up, on so many levels”

Angela's voice was rising in pitch, her breathing was hoarse, eyes were beginning to water

“What do you mean ?” 

“In the med room, I told you that you don't care, I told you… pretty terrible things. I was angry, furious, and instead of doing what was best for Lena, I took it out on you. Even when you were doing your best, I just used you as an emotional punching bag, just to make myself feel better..”

Amélie didn't really know how to react to her friend's sudden declaration, so she stayed quiet.

It probably didn't send any good signals to Angela, since the very apparent pain in her face grew lager, self loathing continuing 

“I care about you, you know, I care a lot, I always did, even before you left. After you returned… well, I took it upon myself to help you be yourself again. I swore that I will be always there for you, no matter how much changed. That I will always support you, lend you a shoulder when needed, and just make sure you are not suffering through this alone.

She threw her hands in the air, Amílie heard small drops hitting the ground.

“Well look at me now, something doesn't go my way and I end up taking it out on the very person I sought to protect. I am sorry, pathetic excuse for a friend, and if you no longer want to….”

She stopped when she felt something warm atop of her head

Amélie put her hand on Angelas head, gently patting her.

“There there, all is well now”

The sobbing woman looked up to her

“Wha-What are you doing ?”

Amélie shrugged

“It worked with Lena”

Angela stared at her with puzzled, confused look, until she chuckled 

“That's just so like you…”

“I do not blame you, in fact, I completely forgot about it until you brought it up” 

Angela broke into laughter, tears still flowing down her face

“I can't believe.. Just..”

Again, her face turned serious 

“Even If you forgive me, I won't forgive myself, I will never let something like this happen again, that much I promise you.”

She looked like she expected an answer.

In the last 24 hours, Amélie learned a lot about handling uncomfortable social interactions, with that, she did something that always seemed to work - letting her actions speak for themselves, and allowing the other person to interpret it however they wished to .

She grabbed the blonde woman, and pulled her close. 

It looked like it was the right thing to do, since Angela quickly wrapped her own hands around Amélie, pressing herself against her eagerly. 

Their lips touched.

Amélie broke the kiss first 

“Angela, we are not alone here”

“Let the children play, I don't think we have to worry about them suddenly approaching you, why don't we enjoy eachothers company for a bit longer hm ?”

“I don't think we should…”

Whatever Amélie was about to say will forever stay a mystery, since at that very moment, the door opened, revealing buch of teanagers staring at them with their mouths open

“Dammit, why didn't I hear them coming”

She looked towards the other side of the room.

“Ah I see, Lena left the TV on, and with max volume, I should have turned it off as soon as they left” 

She didn't have a chance to think about it further since Angela pushed herself off her with such speed that she was launched backwards. 

“W-We were just, ehm, talking, this isn't what it looks like…”

Angela was stammering, her face completely red. To Amélie it seemed almost cute. For her part, she remained completely calm and unbothered by the situation they found themselves in. 

“If you already finished talking, you should head home, I know for a fact that I gave you multiple homeworks due on monday” 

The students needed no further convincing, and knowing that Lena was okay, happily fled the monster's lair. She hoped they would have enough wisdom to not talk about what they had seen, if not, there was always more homework to give.

Curiosity killed the cat

Only one remaining was Lena.

She stood by the door, not quite willing to meet their eyes, faint blush visible on their cheeks

“I told you not to, can't hear anyone coming in when the TV is blasting from across the room” 

“Sorry, I was just so relieved, so I wanted to…” 

Only at that moment, Angela realized that Lenna was, in fact, still in the room.

“Express my thanks in a completely unromantic way, which is only natural since we are not in any sort of romantic relationship.” 

“Uh, yeah, of course”

Lena tried her best to pretend she believed her, she really did, but this went above her acting skill

“Angela, she is going to be living here from now on, I don't think she could be convinced that all the screaming coming from my bedroom every time you visit is due to an especially intense medical checkup.” 

“Yes, you are right, we…”

She turned to Lean with complicated expression 

“Calling it a relationship may be bit far-fetched, there is not much romance involved, it's more of a... physical urges based matter, I mean that…

“We are friends, but since we are attracted to one another, we also have sex, its comfortable activity to take the edge of every now and then” 

“Amélie !” 

The red has returned to Angela's face immediately

“What Angela, she's 18, do you think she doesn't know what that word means? We are not running an elementary school”

Lena, not really comfortable with the direction the conversation was taking, jumped between them.

“Look, it's no big deal really, you are like friends with benefits, I mean, I really don't care” 

That was a lie. 

Two hottest women she knew, both objects of untold number of her sexual fantasies, were not just gay, but also sleeping with each other. Damm.

One thing was for sure, her imagination was going to be busy tonight, and vivid, vivid indeed, hehehe

When she finally fought off all the images from her head, she found both women staring at her.

*Crap did I say that out loud ?”

Probably not, but her staring into nothingness and drooling may have given that away. 

“Well, I think I will get going”

“Why not stay longer, we already let the cat out of the bag, so we may as well enjoy ourselves hmm?

If Lena could whistle, she would, unfortunately she couldn't so she was left to simply stand in front of the widow and act like something really captivating was going on outside. 

“Don't mind me, just go ahead, like I wasn't even here” 

“I don't think that would be proper, we can meet later, I will give you a call”

“Shit” 

“Very well, I guess Lena will have keep me company tonight instead” 

“Eh?”

She squealed, this time, definitely out loud. 

“Amélie, stop bullying the poor girl”

Angela put her thumb forward, assuming teacher like posture

“If she is to share house with you, you must act as a good example to her, you know just how impressionable are kid at her age” 

“But I merely said that Lena will keep me company tonight, after all, she's quite nice to talk to. I hope you did not assume that my comment was meant in a sexual way.”

“Wha-t ?”

“My my Angela, you have quite a dirty mind, is this the way you think about your young patients, you perverted doctor ?“

Ah, Angela and Lena, why are both of them so absurdly easy to tease

Angela was put on the backfoot by her sudden verbal attack

“Why you, you.. That was not what I meant at all and you know it !”

It would be more convincing if she wasn't stammering and blushing like a schoolgirl. 

Angela puffed her cheeks and turned her back to her, trying to hide the embarrassment. 

“Hmph, I will go, but don't expect this “Perverted doctor” to make an examination any time soon”

Before that however, she looked to Lena, smilled, and ruffled her hair. 

“I will give you my number, so if Amélie bullies you too much, or touches you at funny places, you can give me a call, and I will come and smack some sense into her”

As she declared that, she flexed her biceps like some sort of a manly comics hero.

Lena laughed and showed her thumbs up. 

It was interesting how she was saying all of this, despite watching Amélie nearly kill a man just a day prior, Lena guessed that it was just a proof how strong their bond really was. 

After the door closed, the two of them were left alone again

“Doctor Ziegler is pretty nice person huh?, not like I ever though otherwise”

“Yes, she truly is, though I have a feeling that she would prefer you to call her just Angela” 

“Ha, I guess you are right”

Should she ask? She really wanted to know, and the silence was becoming too much

“You two seem pretty close, have you ever considered, you know, dating ?”

“No”

The decisiveness in her voice clearly indicated that there was no room for further questions, so she didn't ask any. 

“Alright, it's not none of my business anyway” 

“Hmm, why don't you go to your room now, I have few tests I need to correct, and you should study too, don't think I will be going easy on you just because we live together.”

Lena chuckled

“Seems like some things just stay the same”

“Sure, I didn't expected you would”

With that, the girl vanished upstairs

Amélie laid the tests on the table, and prepared her red marker. 

“have you ever considered, you know, dating ?”

Yes, she did, more than once, but that was before the war, when she was still just Amélie Lacroix, a young naive girl, fresh out of university, aiming to make the world a better place. If the conflict never happened, would they be going out ? Yes, she could imagine it easily.

Unfortunately, that woman never came back, and had the widowmaker take her place. 

Angela still stuck with her though, even after her change. Looking back, she wasn't sure why she expected anything else. If there was something positive to her fate, it was that people like Angela didn't have to go through the same. 

She really did her best to make her feel better, no matter what kind of person she had become. And she was going to repay her kindness how little she could, namely not hooking her into a serious relationship with a dysfunctional ex-assassin. 

Funny, since she took Lena in, she was getting strangely sentimental, Lena was just a sweet kid like that. 

Amélie looked into the paper, with the name Lena Oxton written in the top right corner. 

Now only if she actually studied bit more 

She sighed and picked up the maker, after a few swipes, she was about to draw big red D in the front.

She hesitated

“Wait, if I am her guardian now, does that mean I am also responsible for her academic results ?”

She erased a small bit, and the D was made into a bit crude looking C 

“Just this one time Lena…”

/- /- /

After what seemed like an eternity, Lena put down the pen, her homework finally complete. 

It wasn't even that long, but let's just say her mind has been busy with other things…

Even as her hormones were on high alert, there were some downsides to the situation.

Lena knew that her professor was several leagues above her, and she already made peace with the fact that the closest she was going to get to any relationship with her were few wet dreams. Still, now that it seemed that they were going to live together for some time, and the tiny ember of hope inside of her was steadily growing larger. And now she knew she was into women too, that gave her at least theoretical chance. 

Theoretical, since she was sleeping with Angela Zierler, literal definition of beauty, and the very last person Lena wanted to compete with. And not just because her scrawny teen self had no chance against her, but also because just how nice and supportive she always was to her.

“Ugh, I don't want to get into her way, well, not like I could even if I wanted” 

No matter, she decided to support Amélie in any way she could, and it seemed like the doctor was doing the same, if they worked together, perhaps they had better chances of success, two heads are better than one. 

Regaining her motivation, Lena got up from the chair

“Just wait Amélie, I am coming for you, and I am going to help you whether you want it or not”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was bit more Angela/Amélie centered, but the main pairing remains Lena/Amélie. 
> 
> Not much in terms of plot happened, but this is a character driven work, so you can't really expect action and crazy plot twists every chapter. Of course, if you disagree with the direction or overall structure of this story, feel free to express your opinion in the comments. I really don't have this story planned out in detail, so change is always possible. 
> 
> Cheers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, the examination period has come to an end. I have no idea how I managed to pull through this year, even collecting semi-decent grades at that. Probably a combination of dumb luck and a healthy dose of alcohol. 
> 
> Looking back, it may have been a bad idea to start a story right at the end of the school year, but well, you live you learn. One good thing that came out of it was that it gave me time to actually plan the entire course of the story from start to finish. But enough of that, now to the chapter:

Lena was an inherently competitive person 

That's how it has always been. Despite her kind nature, once a competition of any kind came into play, she would focus on one and one thing only, that being an absolute victory.

It may have been due to her sport career, perhaps even a coping mechanism against the abuse she has suffered from her father, right now she could not care less, for her opponent was no other than Amélie Lacroix herself. 

That itself was an undesirable situation, since Amélie was, for all intents and purposes, a superhuman. Lena could not match her in speed, strength, stamina, wits or intelligence. No matter what was at stake, attempting to beat Amélie at anything was like trying to move a mountain. 

That's probably what made this situation so goddamn euphoric.

  
Lena was grinning wildly, her eyes filled with glee, looking more like a crazy villain from some old Bond movie than a highschool student. 

Amélie made one mistake however, she challenged her to a game of UNO, and nobody beats Lena Oxton at UNO.

With an ever present smug on her face, she checked her three remaining cards, and took immense pleasure in looking Amélie up and down, once not focused on her smooth curves, but the great pile of cards resting in her long, slender fingers. 

Amélie, admirably holding her poker face even when defeat was imminent, fished inside her thick deck of cards and laid down a green four. 

Lena's shit-eating grin has grown into gigantic proportions.

_ “YES, that's what I needed, now all that's left to do is to play my red four and then red two, and I win” _

Slowly, making a show of it, she pulled out her card, reducing the amount she was holding to two.

Amélie answered with her own red card, unknowingly keeping the colour Lena needed to win

_ “Huh, so that's it then, I won, all I need to do now is to put my red two down and it's over, I beat her” _

With a satisfied smile, Lena let her imagination drift away, picturing herself with a crown on her head, sitting on a great throne, halls littered with emblems of the classic UNO logo. 

There, to her left, was Amélie, wearing a stereotypical princess attire with generous cleavage. 

_ “Oh my queen, you are so mighty and skilled, the defeat you have so gracefully dealt me has awakened a burning desire in my heath, please, take me to your chambers so we can….” _

“UNO”

“H-Huh what ?”

Lena, torn out of her daydreaming, quickly wiped away the droll forming at the corner of her mouth and looked at the woman in front of her. 

“What do you mean UNO, I still have two cards, you didn't know if I was going to play”

“I do, the card you are going to put down is red two, you were fully intend on playing it, hence me calling UNO.” 

The smugness gone from her face completely, Lena's expression resembled someone going through a seizure. 

“H-How? Just how could you tell ?!”

Her horror was met only with a disinterested facade from Amélie, though Lena could swear she saw a hint of smug in features 

“Hmm, who knows, maybe, I could read it of your face, maybe, the game was rigged from the start” 

Barely noticeably, by the tiniest fraction at most, the corners of Amélie's mouth rose upwards.

“Maybe because you chose to sit right behind a TV.” 

Lena turned her head, staring into a wide black screen. In its reflection, she saw Amélie behind her, the table on which the cards were laid, all of it. She saw everything as clear as a day. 

The chair fell to the side, launched away by the sudden movement of Lena's body. 

Lena was standing now, pointing a finger in an accusatory manner towards Amélie. Her expression constantly changing mix between panic and fury. 

“You cheated !”

“How so ?” 

Lena was gasping for air, the absurdity of the question catching her off guard.

  
“You were looking at my cards”

“I did not make any intentional attempt to look at your cards, you simply positioned yourself in such a way that they were constantly visible to me at all times” 

“B-But still…,you could have told me” 

“Why? I have no obligation to do that, you can hardly hold me responsible for your failure”

The big wide brown eyes started into Amélie's clam amber ones, widening further as Lena was desperately trying to come up with an argument that could oppose her fatalistic logic. As her mind remained empty, she resorted to what any teen would, when losing an argument. 

  
“You can't seriously be telling me this is fair!”

“It is not.” 

Before Lena could open her mouth, Amélie continued 

“But the reason why the situation isn't fair is because of the decisions you willingly took. No matter if it's a game or real life, taking advantage of someone else's mistake is expected, only a fool would do otherwise. 

Lena folded her hands and pouted, the action suited more for a child than a 18 year old. Still, Amélie could not help but find it strangely adorable, not that she would say it out loud. 

“Yeah, well, guess what, by that logic, you shouldn't punish me when I am cheating during an exam, because I am only taking advantage of the fact you are not looking” 

_   
_ _ “Heh what are you gonna tell me on that, I got you good this time” _

“You are correct”

  
“What ?”

Amélie smiled

“It's perfectly okay to cheat, and I would never punish you for it” 

“B-but you did multiple times”

“You misunderstand Lena” 

Amélie's smile turned predatory 

“I am not punishing you for cheating, I am punishing you for getting caught”

And with that, she left, leaving the brown haired girl utterly baffled. 

  
  


**/-/-/**

_ “Okay that just happened”  _ Lenna thought to herself. 

_ “Jeez, every time I think I am close to at least slightly understanding her, she pulls out some stun like this” _

She got up from the table, setting all the cards neatly back into the box, and collapsing into the sofa with heavy sight.

It was strange just how fast she got used to their semi dysfunctional dynamic. It has only been a few days since Amélie nearly killed her father and practically adopted her, yet here they were, playing cards like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

Not even a week ago, her living room was filled with an array of empty bottles and a heavy stench of vomit, and her only real focus was to avoid beating during her father's next drunken rampage. 

But then Amélie came, she had nearly beaten her father to death, lent her a shoulder to cry on, and gave her a new home. Lena's life went from a suffocating nightmare to living with a woman she loved surrounded by luxury. 

And, despite all of that happening in a span of few days, everything felt so…. normal. 

She still got up at 6, had breakfast, went to school, then to the sport clubs she attended and finally arrived home to Amélie. They chatted (admittedly Lena did most of the chatting) or played table games until she went to study and Améle to work. 

Was the human mind so quick to adapt, or was she just so fucked in the head by everything she went through? 

Lena chuckled 

Probably both.

It was a comfortable life. While nobody could claim Amélie Lacroix was exactly a warm person, she still remembered the night she brought her home. Her gentle touch as she wrapped the crying girl into an embrace, the calming words she whispered into her ear as she held her. 

It let her know that the Amélie used to know was still in there, even if she didn't exactly make it obvious. And even though nothing similar happened since then, it wasn't like Amélie was completely cold to her either. 

She was… well, accepting. Even when Lena did most of the talking, Amélie didn't disregard her, she actually listened to what she had to say, and even commented on it occasionally. It would still feel a bit better if she wasn't the one having to initiate every conversion, but hey, Lena took what she could get. 

And of course, she swore to herself that she would help Amélie with whatever kind of trauma she was suffering from, the problem was, she didn't really know how.

  
Amélie wasn't really openly suffering, she didn't cry, didn't have panic attacks, nor was she waking up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. That was a good thing of course, but it meant Lena didn't really have an opportunity to comfort her, and maybe have a talk about whatever exactly happened to her during that time. 

  
One thing was for sure, Amélie wasn't happy, that much was easy to tell. 

It felt more like she was… just empty, there was no life in her eyes, no pain but also no spark. It was like if she was a rag doll, without her own free will, devoid of emotions, living just for the sake of living. 

Even when she smiled, Lena knew she was faking it for her benefit, that should make her feel better, but it didn't. 

It wouldn't be that bad if she still didn't vividly remember how she was before, it was the contrast that really drove the point home .

Was it really that bad, so much so she had to throw away everything that made her human to remain at least somewhat sane?

It probably was, Lena wasn't really into politics, but it was hard to remain completely unaware when your country was at war. The Iranian meat grinder, the second Verdun, news called it by many names, but regardless, it was the bloodiest conflict in american history right after the second world war. 

Even when it was finally over, the number of suicides was steadily increasing, the veterans taking their lives with an intensity that could match the wartime. 

But she wasn't about to throw the towel in the ring just yet! It was impossible at first, but as they spent more time together, Lena began to learn how to spot small, barely noticeable quirks in her facial features. Eye twitch here, muscle contraction here, It was like learning a foregin language, but as the time progressed, she was able to identify cracks in her emotionless mask, and if she had her way, she would eventually shatter it completely. 

_ “Uhh all this thinking is making my head hurt” _

The sofa moved slightly backwards as Lena pushed herself off it, looking for a distraction that would hopefully take her mind elsewhere. 

She wandered through the living room, approaching the kitchen. Absentmindedly, she browsed the instant noodles and chicken wings filling the cabinet above. 

It would never occur to her that Amélie Lacroix, as fit as she was, would accept anything other than the healthiest nourishments. That was just another misconception it seemed, because Amélie apparently regularly feasted on junkfood, and yet somehow kept the figure of an olympic athlete.

_ “Talk about winning the genetic lottery…” _

Quietly cursing the gods of genetics, she filled a glass with tapwater, and as she was about to take a sip, she heard it 

_ *thud thud thud* _

And again. 

_ *thud thud thud* _

Tracking the sound, she approached a door at the very end of the hallway. Lena hesitantly put her hand on the doorknob, and ever so slightly pulled. Slowly, she moved her head towards the gap, peeking inside. 

_ *thud thud thud* _

The leg of Amélie Lacroix has impacted the training dummy's head three times in quick succession, sending cloth and splinters raining everywhere. Quickly doing the invisible blows, she used her momentum to land a devastating blow with her fist, denting the hard wood like it was made of butter. 

Then, in the middle of an attack, she stilled, and turned her head. 

Their eyes met, both starting at the other, unmoving.

The door, no longer being held, opened, revealing the frozen girl.

_ “Shit, shit, what should I say, I just kinda heard a noise so I went and peeked on you, yeah that won't sound weird at all” _

Idea struck her, and she lifted the still full glass, putting it in front of her with her hands shaking, like she was offering a sacrifice to some hungry demon. 

“Ehmm water ?”

Amélie slowly walked towards the girl, in a manner resembling a predator approaching wounded prey. Just as Lena thought she was going to become the training dummy for the next session, she took the glass from her hands, and emptied it in one go. 

“Thanks” 

“Eh n-no problem* squeaked Lena, to her own surprise still in one piece.

“........”

“........”

As the silence was growing heavy, Lena did what she does best, spoke without thinking:

“Can I watch ?”

Just as the words left her mouth, her entire face cringed”

_ “Wow, so smooth Lena, not like you were already looking like a giant creep, wanna ask her to take her clothes off too?”  _

Amélie, obvious to her internal struggles, Amélie shugged.

“If you want, I have no problem with it” 

The mortification was quickly replaced with utter surprise, leaving her mouth hanging open

“Wait really-I mean sure, yeah, I am just gonna sit over there” 

No other words exchanged between them, Amélie went back to her training.

_ *strike, dodge, strike, kick*  _

Lenna could not help but stare in awe, Amélie was truly a force of nature, every strike was delivered with an inhuman speed and precision. The thick wooden trunk from which the dummy was made, shook and splintered with every landed attack. Every time her fist touched the wood, it was as if a heavy hammer had impacted it. 

The realization dawned on her

_ “She really could have killed father back then, I thought she was going all out, but she was holding herself back, each of those punches could break person's neck with ease” _

_   
_ _ “I mean, look at those muscles, they are big, but still subtle enough for her body to remain feminine, and the legs, so toned, and long…..” _

Her teenage hormones getting the better of her, she let her eyes wander around Amélies sweaty and barely covered body. 

The sportsbra was making a valiant effort of keeping Amélies breasts from jiggling all over the place, but with such mass combined with quick movement, it could really only do so much 

Preparing for a low kick, Amélie bent over, the tight shorts leaving little to imagination. 

Lena only hoped that with the sweat shooting left and right, Améle wouldn't question the not-so-slowly growing puddle, forming itself on the chair Lena was currently sitting on. 

As the final attack send the unfortunate wooden figure to the ground, it seemed like it was finally over. 

_ “I wonder if I could learn this too, no, it would be kinda weird to ask her to train me though, this is not some 90s action movie” _

Améle reached for the door

Lena rose to her feet 

“Teach me!” 

Hand still on the doorknob, Amélie turned her head to her questioningly 

“Teach you ?”

Her bravado gone, she shuffled her legs under the intense gaze

“You know, the fighting stuff, you were like *bum* *whoos*”

Lena was throwing her hands around wildly, attempting for the best impression of what she just witnessed, judging from the expression on Amélie's face, she wasn't impressed. 

“...and I just though it's pretty cool, and with the stuff with my dad and all of that, it wouldn't really be a bad idea to know how to fight right?” 

Amélie kept silent for good ten seconds, and when she answered, Lena noticed her voice was just bit quieter than usual

“I don't really know how…”

“What do you mean, they taught you this in the army right? Just teach me the same way the did you” 

_ “The same way they taught you huh, that brings back memories”  _

_ _-_-_-_ _

  
  


_ The sound of steps rang through the tight passage, as corporal Amélie Lacroix walked down the badly lit corridor.  _

_ It was completely silent, and that bothered to no end _

_ Back at the base, you could always hear the laughter of soldiers playing cards instead of working, the swearing of commanding officers telling them to lift their ass off the ground, the machinery being moved, it was just always alive, this was an exact opposite.  _

_ To calm her nerves, Amélie's eyes slid to her brand new uniform - it was black as a night, without any camouflage pattern, quite different from the standard multicam she, and all the other soldiers were given.  _

_ The promotion didn't catch her off guard, even in only two months of service, she already established herself as one of the best marksmen of this sector.  _

_ What did however, was that the unit she was assigned to was completely unknown, and not just to her, but even to her commanding officer and anybody she asked. The fact everybody here wore custom made equipment didn't help her curiosity.  _

_ Not that she felt like celebrating. Often, she cursed herself for the “talent” she displayed during basic training, the one that would see her being given the role of a marksman.  _

_ Being an infantry man was easy, you simply shot in the general direction of your enemy, not seeing whether you missed or hit. When the dust settled, nobody knew who was the one landing the killing shot, it made you feel lighter.  _

_ Not her though, she had to find an enemy, take aim, carefully look up and down the man she was about to kill, squeeze the trigger, and watch his comrades shout in dismay, attempting to patch up their friend. It was always in vain, she never missed.  _

_ Worst thing about killing was, just how easy it had become - first time, she vomited, and hadn't slept a moment that night, second time, she did vomit too, but less. Next time she kept herself from throwing up, and even managed to catch a few minutes of sleep. As the time went and her bodycount rose, squeezing the trigger was easier and easier, and the terrible feeling of guilt weaker and more dull. Even moments like this became less frequent.  _

_ She thought of home. What are her students up to right now ? Winston is probably doing his homework, even though it's due in more than a week, Ashe would be trying to copy it, coming up with more mischief in the meantime.  _

_ And Lena, her little Lena, perhaps it was because she lost her mother at a young age, but she was always so clingy to her, it was simply adorable. Still, she came a long way from where she was at the beginning, all she needed was someone who honestly believed in her, and a gentle push in the right direction. She was going to be alright, she had to be.  _

_ Angela would be there, she would keep her safe.  _

_ Her mind slid to the blonde doctor. She was really upset about her leaving, accompanied her all the way to the airport, even cried. Amélie felt guilty but her pure affection made her heart jump in all sorts of ways. Not for the first time, she wondered if she made a mistake by not telling her how she really felt about her back then. In the end, she always came to the same conclusion - she was probably not going to survive this, declaring her love to Angela and then going off to die would be just too cruel.  _

_ What would she think if she saw her like this ? What would her students think ? What would Lena, the first person she helped, tell her, if she saw what she had become?  _

_ Stopping before she got too melancholic, she looked to her silent guide, wearing the same uniform as she was.  _

_ “Pretty long walk huh?” _

_ The man said nothing  _

_ She tried again _

_ “Didn't know there was an underground base around here, pretty crazy, by the way, how long are you in this unit ?” _

_ And again, the silence was her answer. _

_ As she was looking him up and down, something caught her eye.  _

_ “You don't have a nametag on your uniform, no dog tag either”  _

_ This time, he spoke  _

_ “Nobody does, and neither will you” _

_ “Ok, not ominous at all” she thought  _

_ She did not have more time to dwell on it, for they finally reached their destination. In a small room, stood a tall thin man, the insignia on his uniform marking him as an officer.  _

_ The soldier who led her here, simply gave a salute and left.  _

_ His cold blue eyes bore into hers. Against her will, a shiver run down her spine. _

_ She straightened her back, and saluted  _

_ “Corporal Amélie Lacroix ready for service sir! I was told a hand to hand combat training was supposed to take place here.” _

_ “.....”  _

_ A drop of sweat dripped down her hair  _

_ “Did I receive a wrong location sir, or should I….” _

_ Her face exploded with pain  _

_ She did not see the man move, at one moment, he was standing completely still, at the other, his fist was buried deep inside her face _

_ The strength of the strike combined with her footing resulted in Amélie falling to the ground. Purely thanks to her reflexes, she rolled away in the very moment when a foot struck the place her head was, just split second ago.  _

_ She continued to roll away from the man, barely avoiding his attacks. A kick in his direction gave her time to get on one knee, the very moment she did so however, a devastating punch caught her right into the stomach. _

_   
_ _ Air knocked out of her, she suppressed the reflex to drop her hands down, instead, keeping them up, which saved her from the next strike aiming at her face. The power behind the punch still nearly broke her arm, and sent her back to the ground. This time though, she used the momentum, and launched herself off the ground back into standing position, putting good distance between her and the attacker.  _

_ She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, blood was flowing down her eyes, making it hard to see. She was dizzy, her entire body hurt. She did fully understand why the man kept attacking her, but right now, she didn't care, her switch was flipped, she was in a combat mode, he was an enemy that's all that mattered.  _

_ Amélie knew she had to end this fast, her arms were on fire, badly bruised, she couldn't block many more strikes like this, it was time to go on the offensive.  _

_ She moved forward, head between her arms in a boxer stance, she threw a punch at his head, he dogged easily, and drove his knee into her side. Ignoring the sharp pain, she continued with her assault throwing another punch and a kick. They did not connect, but it pushed the man back, forcing him to concentrate on defense rather than attack. _

_ A low kick came her way, but this time, she sidestepped and retaliated with a high one, once again missing it allowed her to keep the initiative. _

_ Another punch came, targeting her upper torso. Instead of dogging, Amélie jerked her body to the side, catching his fist on her shoulder. Hellish pain shot through her arm, and she felt something give away. Regardless she pushed into his guard and threw two quick strikes in his direction. _

_ The man, now overextended and unable to dodge, was forced to block her punches. First he blocked with his arm, the second managed to graze his cheek. Her satisfaction was short-lived, as a kick to the stomach sent her backward, ending her assault.  _

_ “I can't go on like this, he's stronger and faster, if we trade punches I am just going to lose, I need to get a clean shot”  _

_ Her opponent launched himself forward. This time, she kept on the defense, semi-successfully dogging and blocking most of the strikes. Her entire body was burning, but she had to be patient. _

_ Finally one of the punches was just little too off, Amélie's hand shot forward, aimed at his revealed jaw  _

_ His hand met hers halfway  _

_ Loud crack echoed through the room, extreme pain engulfed her mind. For a second, her vision was swarmed by black. Somehow, she was still conscious enough to jump back, barely dodging a vicious right hook. _

_ “Shit, shit shit” _

_ The man moved, ready to finish her off. _

_ Amélie's wrist flicked towards him.  _

_ Stream of blood splashed against the pair of blue eyes.  _

_ Her enemy blined, Amélie attacked.  _

_ Well aimed kick hit the man's kidney. Before he could collect himself, a fist crashed against his temple with a satisfying crunch.  _

_ “This is it, eat dirt” _

_ Taking a step back from the stunned man, she lifted her fist, to deliver a finishing blow. _

_ Bloodied hand gripped her wrist.  _

_ Terror took hold of her features, as the man who just suffered two disabling wounds, stared into her eyes, grinning.  _

_ Amélie tried to throw a kick but he jerked her forward, his other hand catching her by the throat.  _

_ She tried to kick again, his hand squeezed her neck, nearly breaking her windpipe.  _

_ Black spots threatened to overcome her vision, her limbs were uselessly hanging in the air, refusing to respond to her calls.  _

_ He eased his grip, only enough so she wouldn't fall into unconsciousness. Then he spoke, his rich smooth voice bore no signs of pain or fatigue, as if he was a simple teacher lecturing an especially dull student.  _

_ “Not bad princess, but the thing is, this isn't some kindergarten drawing contest, you don't get “you tried” medal, just because you put in good effort”  _

_ Amélie gave up on trying to break his grip, simply attempting to stay conscious, and at the same time, push down the vomit that threatened to slip past her lips.  _

_ “There is no second place at the frontline, there is only victory, and death. So, in my unlimited kindness, I agreed to sacrifice my precious time to transform you from being hunted, into the hunter himself.  _

_ Finally, he let go off her neck and Amélie fell to the ground. Fighting past the overwhelming desire to lay down and cry, she rallied the remaining strength in her body to move her burning limbs, and slowly, and unbelievably painfully, got up, keeping her eyes on the man the whole time, not daring to look away.  _

_ Judging by his widening grinn, he seemed satisfied by that.  _

_ “Now listen, the Iranians won't schedule a lesson with you during the fighting, and neither will I. So what I am going to do is, to routinely attack you when you expect it the least. If you drop your guard, I am going to beat the living shit out of you, If you don't, I am going to do the same, but you will at least get a chance to defend yourself before I trash you”  _

_ As her weakened mind absorbed his words, she felt the sickness in her stomach growing, yet, he wasn't finished.  _

_ “The training ends by you either dying, or getting good enough to beat me. That of course, will all take place during the various other training regimes you will be put through, none of them much more forgiving than this one. When we are done with you, you will be nothing but a well oiled killing maschine.” _

_ He smiled  _

_ “Or a corpse”  _

_ “Am I…” _

_ Amélie stopped to cough, painting the ground red _

_ “Am I dismissed ?” _

_ “Yes, go to the quartermaster to pick up your equipment, tactical training will be taking place next.”  _

_ She staggered away, never turning her back on him, which proved to be a wise choice as it allowed her to dogge one last kick aimed at her head. _

_ “Hmm, fast learner, you may survive this afterall”  _

_ Perhaps it was because of the blunt trauma from all the hits to her head, but as she half walked-half crawled to the door, an image of all the people who were waiting for her back home flashed through her mind.  _

_ “Angela, Lena, everyone, I promised you I will come back, and I am not going back on that. No matter what it takes… No matter what I have to do, I will survive, and I will come home” _

_ _-_-_-_ _

“Amélie”

“Amélie!”

Huh did someone call her 

“AMÉLIE!”

The loud shout made her eyes snap open. 

In front of her was Lena, clearly distressed tugging her arm and shaking her shoulders.

“Ah yes, sorry I was lost in thoughts” 

“What do you mean, “lost in thoughts”, you completely blacked out, for like 15 seconds, I called on you, but you just stood there, like you were hypnotized or something.” 

Lena's voice was high pitched, there was no mistaking the honest worry in her eyes, she was looking at her like she expected her to shatter and fall into pieces any moment. 

Amélie sighted and put her hand on Lena's head, ruffing her hair. 

“I appreciate your concern Lena, but there is nothing to worry about, it just happens… from time to time. But I assure you I am healthy and well. Anyway I am going go and to take a shower” 

“But I- you…”

Before Lena could continue, the door closed, and Amélie slipped out, leaving the confused girl to herself. 

_ “Okay that was really weird”  _

Lenna was no medic, but she was pretty sure straight up blacking out for 15 seconds isn't exactly normal behaviour. But it was also quite clear that Amélie had no intention of giving her an actual explanation. 

Frustrated, she walked back to her room and closed the door, burying her face in a pillow 

_ “Dammit, why do you have to make this so hard for me Amélie, just let me help”  _

_ “No medic huh… wait a minute, I can just ask Angela tomorrow, I am sure she would help”  _

Now, with a firm plan in her mind, Lena got up from the bed with a new found energy. 

  
She hasn't been this excited to go to school in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that would be it. I tried to give a subtle recap of the story so far, since I can hardly expect people to remember everything after a good 3 months of absence. I know the story is pretty slow paced at the moment, but I wanted to properly build up the characters and their motivations, before we move to the actual romance. Of course, if you have a different opinion, feel free to voice it in the comments. 
> 
> Expect another update reasonably soon.


	5. Chapter 5

“Argh” 

As it often was for the last few days, loud sounds of fighting echoed through the training room Amélie set up. However, it was no longer occupied by Amélie Lacroix alone, next to her stood battered but determined figure of Lena Oxton. No matter the fatigue gripping her, she managed to dodge the nest punch Amélie threw at her face. 

The woman in question halted her assault, and smiled. 

“Good job Lena, I think this will be enough for today. You are improving faster than I thought”

Lena was breathing heavily, hands gripping her knees, nevertheless, she flashed Amélie a shy smile.

“Th-thanks, I am grateful you agreed to train me, I would have never managed this alone”

The sound of Amélies laughter filled the room, it was rich and pleasant, one Lena secretly came to adore. 

“You are too modest Lena. I always saw the potential in you. It's the least I can do after you helped me so.” 

Lena looked away, red colour spilling over her cheeks.

“I really didn't do anything special..., especially in comparison with all the things you did for me, who knows what would have happened to me otherwise”

“Hmm...”

Lena, only now realizing how cheesy her words sounded, stared intently at her feet, hoping for a hole in the ground opening and swallowing her. That allowed Amélie to creep behind her, gripping her from behind. 

“Eeeek” Lena squealed

“Silly girl, how many times did I tell you to keep your guard up at all times”

Amélie strong arms were wrapped around Lena's midriff, keeping her effectively immobile.

Lena tried to struggle, her breathing growing short and uneven. Not due to pain, in fact, Amélies grip was rather gentle. It was just that being so tightly pressed into her extremely hot teacher had her feeling all kinds of funny things. 

For a while they just stood there. 

Amélie wasn't exactly overdressed, only wearing a close-fitting sportsbra and shorts. Her hot skin was pressed against Lena's, their sweat mixing as their bodies were squashed together tightly. Lena felt Amélies even breathing, and what's more, she felt her sizable breasts spilling all over her back. At this point, her mind already discarded the idea of escape, focusing on an entirely different stimulls. 

Next thing she felt was a tingling sensation on her neck, she quickly realized it was in fact Amélies breathing, her mouth just a few inches from her ear. 

“You say that you did nothing special, but that is not correct, just your presence is enough, your infectious laughter, your honest joy, your pure will to live, all of that made my life brighter, enough to let me at least temporarily forget the memories that haunt me. 

“Amélie...” Lena whispered, her voice weak and brittle. 

Her body collapsed against her Amélie's, who responded by pulling her even closer, not allowing their bodies to come apart, even for a second. The warm hands on her hips, the steady breathing against her neck, the slick curves of Amélis body pressed against hers, it was as if her every sense had been multiplied, leaving her mind in a haze. 

Long slender fingers cupped her cheek, guiding her face to the side so it was meeting Amelie's own. They finally looked at each other, Lena's eyes were filled equally with uncertainty and desire, meeting Amélies, clam as ever. There was a silent question in them, one Lena answered by hooking her arm behind Amélie's neck pulling their faces closer. 

Amélie tightened her grip, her other hand, full of overflowing brown hair, tilted Lena's head to the side, as she met her halfway. 

“Let me show you, how thankful I really am…”

Lena brought her lips against hers 

***beep beep beep***

The alarm clock kept beeping for the next few seconds, until a hand hit it, putting an end to the terrible sound. 

With an enormous amount of willpower, Lena kicked away her blanket and rose up, leaving the impossibly comfortable warmth of her bed behind. She automatically wiped away the droll that formed on the corner of her mouth, likely a consequence of the steamy dream she was just forced to awake from. 

Bidding her bed good bye, she finally stood up, slipping her cold feed into the fluffy slippers Amélie provided her. Who would have thought that Amélie Lacroix owns a pair of bunny slippers, certainly not her, but that was just Amélie, full of surprises. 

As she dressed, Lena idly wondered how she should go about convincing Amélie that she in fact just accidentally spilled a glass of water onto her bedsheet, hence the wet spot on the bottom of the mattress.

_ “Maybe I should actually spill a bit of water there, make the pattern believable and wash away the evidence. Oh well, that's a problem for future Lena, I sure wouldn't want to be that girl.”  _

With the grace of a bear who just woke up from winter hibernation, she slowly stumbled her way to the kitchen. 

There, a fresh toast with eggs and a steaming cup of tea was already waiting for her. Amélie sat by the table, already eating through her third slice of ham. How could she devour a serving worth of five grown men in a few minutes, and still look elegant while doing it, Lena had no Idea. Probably had something to do with her French genes. 

“Oh Lena, good morning”

Amélie took a brief time to greet her, before resuming to terrorize the heap of food on her plate. 

“Good…”

Memories of the dream flashed through her mind.

_ “Oh Lena, Let me show you, how thankful I really am…” _

In one moment, her face went from sleepy and disinterested to aggressively burning. Eyes wide, the red colour swallowing her face, she suddenly found great interest in her feet, staring at the floor, and avoiding eye contact. 

This made Amélie put her plate away and look at the distressed girl. 

“Lena, are you quite alright?”

“Yeah yeah of course I am, all is good, nothing weird, just about to grab something to eat and…” 

The stream of Lena's babbling was cut off suddenly, as she felt a warm hand landing on her forehead . 

“Hmm, your face is all red, are you coming down with a fever ?”

Lena bolted away, like the hand was made of hot iron

“No problemo, I am fine, really, feelin good, just eeeeh.. Really excited for a school today”

The deadpan look Amélie gave her might have been her most expressive emotion just yet. 

Deciding for diversion, she sat down, and enthusiastically began to stuff her mouth full of toast. 

“Do you have the homework for today ?” 

Lena's jaw came to a stop, a toast sticking out of her mouth, she looked to Amélie with an honest surprise 

“Chrm.. a homework, what do you mean ?”

Before her question was answered, the realization dawned on her. She had homework to hand in today, but with all the stuff happening she totally forgot. 

“Oh shit, that, I.. I mean…” 

Amélie sighted, handing her a paper

“Here are the answers, make sure to copy them before our lesson” 

“Ah.. thanks.., look I am really sorry, I..”

_ “Dammit Lena, stop with those puppy eyes, that's nothing short of psychological warfare.”  _

She coughed into her hand

“Make nothing of it, we can make up for it once we arrive home, detention is a punishment for me as it is for you.” 

“Sure, when we get home then”

The look of a kicked puppy was, in split of a second, replaced with a big gleaming smile. Now Lena was grinning like she just won the lottery

_ “Wow, the psy ops division would kill for people like her, literally.”  _

“Well, seems we are both finished, let's get into the car”

**-/ / /-**

Human mind is really quick to adapt, Lena thought, as an especially sharp turn threw her body against the door. 

And truly, she no longer felt an aggressive urge to vomit, despite Amélies best attempts to give her a heart attack by nearly crashing the car every few seconds. Instead, she just felt a constant sense of unease, temporarily turned into fear for her life every time Amélie pushed down on the gas pedal. 

“We-We have enough time, maybe you could slow down for a bit..” 

Amélie looked at her like she just suggested the sky is green. 

“I paid 130 thousands for this car, I am not going to drive it like a moped” 

“Does the 130k get you an ejection seat with a parachute, or at least a built-in coffin ?” 

“I can't see the problem, don't you trust me Lena ?”

“My trust is being tested every time we nearly crash!”

“And yet we never actually do, I would say that's a testament to my driving skill.” 

Knowing this wasn't an argument she was going to win, Lena pressed herself further into the comfortable seat. It may have been made from the skin of some poor exoitc animal, but damm if it wasn't comfy as hell. 

“Hey, why don't you let me drive next time, I do have a license you know. 

“That would be too dangerous” 

“Like… seriously ?”

“Driving a powerful car like this can be tricky, especially if you are not used to it. The dynamic is completely different from a normal vehicle, and one mistake can cost you your life” 

“Alright jeez..”

“That being said, if you are interested, I can teach you a bit. If you do well, I may let you give it a ride or two.” 

“Really, you would ?”

“Yes, it's almost like I am a teacher or something.” 

_ “A joke? Did Amélie hit her head in the morning and suddenly gained a sense of humor ?” _

“Yay I can't wait, you are the best” 

Amélie chuckled, stopping at the school's parking lot. 

“Careful, you don't want to get called a teachers pet” 

“Considering everyone knows we live together, it's already established that I am well domesticated. Seriously, you wouldn't believe the question I get asked.” 

She switched to a high pitch voice, attempting to impersonate her classmates 

“Hey Lena, does Lacroix sacrifice a newborn to Satan to come up with homework. Oh and does she force you to ask for permission when you use the toilet? And Lena, what Colour is her underwear?” 

“Oh poor Lena, I am sure a french lesson will cheer you up, I already prepared a nice  Verb Conjugations exercise, just for you.”

“Nooo” Lena begged dramatically 

“Anything but that !”

Amélie opened the door, signaling their transition into the student-teacher role.

“See you after school” 

**-/ / /-**

Chaos reigned over the classroom 

Pens and textbooks were flying left and right, various sounds from excitement to panic rang through the classroom. Winston was writing down his notes diligently, ignoring the battle taking place around him. In that sense, he was the eye of the hurricane - a mountain of bodies was formed all around him, hands with phones were sticking out, every student desperately attempting to take a picture of the only real source of information for upcoming exams. 

Ultimately, the few lucky enough to get readable pics would trade them for various other goods, mostly from the cafeteria. They could also exchange them for more notes of lesser value, proceeding to sell them right before the exams hit for higher price. It was the perfect example of a free market economy, the only difference being that everybody had theoretically the same chances of success, simply depending on how far they were willing to go. 

As it turned out, people were willing to go pretty far.

Elbows were thrown, hair was pulled, constant swearing could be heard. There was no mercy, no compassion for your fellow man, only students full of adrenaline and determination, ready to abandon any compassion for the sake of gaining the perfect study material, or just a chance to get free coke for the rest of the week.

Lucio was in the lead, his athletic build allowing him to squeeze through the impenetrable wall of flesh. One strong brown hand was holding others aside, while the other was dangling above Winston's head with a phone, blindly taking as many pictures as possible. 

A foot landed on his head, making him nearly drop the phone. Ashe was climbing the mountain of people, naturally without even the slightest concern for the other students' wellbeing. She paid no mind to the shouts coming her way from the people she trampled on, rising above everyone both figuratively and literally. 

There wasn't even good reason for her to do so, all it took were a few pretty smiles for Winston to give her the notes to her voluntarily. But that wouldn't give her nearly enough trill as actually fighting for it. 

“Ch-Childern, please calm down, today we will be learning about the stratosphere and….. Agh”

Mei-Ling Zhou, the geography teacher, was forced to duck as a book flew her way, hitting the globe behind her

“N-Now this is very important…”

Nobody paid any attention to the weak and quiet voice of the helpless teacher who was just trying her best to impart some knowledge unto the devious, merciless creatures known as teenagers. It was pitiable, but such is highschool - strong thrive and weak perish. 

Not everyone joined the fray however. Hana was playing on her phone as always, completely obvious to her surroundings. But then, rather uncharacteristically, she put the phone away, and walked to the only other person currently not participating in the free-for-all battle.

“What's the matter Lena, are you actually skipping the Winston Tournament ? I thought you were aiming for five wins in a row.” 

“.....” 

“Leeeenaaaa” 

Hana laid a hand on her shoulder and shook

“Eeek !”

Lena jumped from her seat, nearly sending the chair to the ground 

She caught herself before she could cause yet more damage to the school's property, and looked at Hana accusingly 

“You startled me..”

“Oh cmon, you looked like you were in a trans or something, what got you so worked up, trouble in the paradise ?”

Lena looked away before Hana could spot her red cheeks

“Hannnaaaa” 

“Cmon, I am just teasing you” 

She lowered her head to look Lena into the eyes, closing the distance between their faces bit more than Lena was personally comfortable with. Neither was she comfortable with the mischievous grin on Hanas features. 

“Unless there is something you are not telling me….” 

As the blush she just pushed down threatened to return, she quickly backed off, only for the girl to push closer to her, clearly having no qualms about invading her personal space.

“H-hey really, there is nothing weird going on, everything is fine, I was just kinda lost in thoughts” 

“Hmmm” 

“Do you honestly think I could seduce Am-Proffesor Lacroix ?” 

“Yeah, you are right, that sounds pretty unlikely” 

_ “Ufff way to hit my self esteem, even if it's totally true.” _

Still, she sent fearsome pout Hana's way, voicing her displeasure with Hana's blatant disregard for her romantic abilities. 

“Oh Lena, stop being such a baby”

She smiled, sitting next to the frowning girl

“You know, your determination in the face of imminent defeat is charming, but there is something like biting more than you can chew.” 

“I never said I am into her…”

Hana did not look impressed 

“Your eyes are literally glued to her tits every lesson” 

“Hey! It's not like I am the only one” 

Her cheeks glowing red, she refused to look into Hana's eyes, turning her attention to the ceiling. 

“You are not, but most of us at least make an effort to be subtle, you are just staring to your heart's content”

Lena's face now resembling fresh tomato, she desperately steered the conversation elsewhere. 

“Yeah, and what do you know about romance anyway? huh” 

“I will have you know I played multiple romance oriented visual novels” 

“Wow, I bow down to your supreme experience” 

“It's still further than you ever got” 

That shut her up, not that Hana would leave it there.

“You will need a bit more than that to impress the hottest teacher of the school. You gotta learn how to swim, before jumping into the sea. Experience is the key” 

“Are you trying to seduce me Hana ?” 

In answer, Hana once again intruded Lena's personal space, leaning against the table, giving Lena a very clear view of her cleavage. She tilted her head to the side, letting her smooth brown hair flower over her left eye, and sent Lena a flirtatious wink. 

“And what if I am” 

Lena stared at her, eyes wide, with massive blush taking over her features. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, but stayed motionless. 

Hana leaned in

An burst out laughing

“Heh, you are way too easy Lena, if you wish to conquer the fearsome beast known to the mortals as Amélie Lacroix, you gonna need to grow a backbone” 

Utterly defeated and thoroughly humiliated, Lena frowned towards the grinning girl. 

“Why do you have to kick me when I am already down” 

“Why don't you tell me what's actually bothering you” 

Lena sighted and looked away, but Hana seemed determined 

_ “Hmmm, Hana was always kinda weird like that, keeping her distance most of the time, but when there was something she wanted, she went all in. Maybe that was the reason why she was one of the first people I befriended. She is also not really the talkative type, not with most people anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea, Hana isn't exactly one for gossiping. And it seems I don't really have a choice anyway.”  _

“Promise you won't laugh at me ?”

The grin on Hana's face disappeared, immediately replaced with a serious look 

“I promise” 

“Jeez, it's no big deal, really, it's just-” 

Lena leaned closer to her, keeping her voice down 

“Yesterday, I saw Amélie training, and we kinda talked about her time in the army, and then - she just froze, completely blacked out, for like 15 seconds, I really thought I caused her some traumatic episode…. And When she finally snapped out, she just acted like nothing happened, refusing to tell me what's going on.”

“Hmm, does that happen often ?”

“No, that was the first time I saw anything like that happening to her, that's why I was so freaked out.”

“Sounds like she was having a flashback of some kind” 

“Is that a bad thing ?”

“Well it's a classic PTSD symptom, my uncle was there too, dad told me he still screams from his sleep”    
  
“But the thing is, she acts nothing like that, she's always so calm and composed, but it just feels... Unnatural, like she's a robot or something.

“Trama has many forms, and everybody copes with it in their own way” 

“So what should I do ?” 

“I dunno” 

Lena stared at her. 

“Don't give me that look, I am not psychologist, you didn't seriously expect me to give you some magical answer that would fix everything” 

“Yeah I guess you are right” 

Lena flashed her friend a small smile 

“But thanks for hearing me out, already makes me feel bit better than before, I knew I could always count on you ” 

It was Hana's turn to look away with a slight blush 

“Yeah well, ehm, why don't you go see Doctor Ziegler, she knows more about this stuff than I do” 

“I planned to, but.. don't you think it's kinda weird to just waltz in and start asking her about all this stuff, what if she tells Amélie, I will look like a fool.”

“Tsk Lena, Lena, you really could do with more backbone, oh well that's what friends are for I guess” 

Before Lena could ask her what she meant, Hana got up and walked to their teacher. 

“Professor ?”

“...” 

“Professor Mei, are you there? 

An eye peeked through the teachers table. When it saw no school supplies flying in its direction, a head reluctantly rose from beneath the table. Mei-Ling Zhou eyed them through her glasses with a mix of fear and suspicion, likely evaluating them as no threat, for she actually emerged from her hiding spot, though still holding onto her table, ready to jump back at a moment's notice. 

“I-Its professor Zhou….” 

With a wavering voice, Mei attempted to recover at least a fragment of her authority, which would be more convincing if she wasn't shaking like a leaf, and with a literal battle taking place behind her.

“Ehm sure, professor Zhou, Lena told me she has a headache, can she go to the infirmary ?”

“Oh, sure, you are free to go, I hope it's nothing seriou… eeh!”

Like a lightning, Mei vanished behind her wooden fort. Split second later, a pen hit the table and fractured, like a miniature grenade. 

Just as Lena turned to leave, she decided to take pity on her terrified teacher, walked up to her, and whispered something into her ear. 

Mei nodded furiously, and when the door closed behind Lena, she got up, rallying all her strength, and shouting:

“If you don't stop right now, I am going to tell professor Lacroix !” 

Silence commenced

In a moment, the classroom went from a war torn battleground into a church during the sunday prayer. 

Those that were holding each other by the neck just few seconds ago, now sitting with their pens in hand, looking at her expectantly, like the scene from before never happened. 

_ “Damm, it actually worked, I have to remember to give Lena few bonus points for the next exam, she deserves it….” _

**-/ / /-**

When the door to the infirmary opened, it revealed Angela sitting on her chair, reading through medical records of some kind. As the little bell above the door gave Lena away, Angela looked up, and immediately jumped to her, looking her up and down for any signs of injury.

_ “ _ Lena ? what happened ? It's not even the P.E. period yet, did you slip somewhere ?”

“N-No, no I am fine” 

Lena stammered, doing her best to ignore the way Angela's soft hands were traveling around her body to find the nonexistent wound. 

“I just.. wondered if we could talk, that's all...”

Bright, radiant smile spread over Angelas features, giving her almost a divine aura.

“But of course…” 

Lena hat to push down the inner disappointment, as Angela's gentle touch disappeared

“....Sit down Lena, do you want a tee ? cookies ? I should have them stashed somewhere around here…”

  
Before Lena could formulate an answer, a plate of food was already laid in front of her. Angela poured the hot steaming tea into their cups, and finally turned to the embarrassed girl.

“So, I take it it's about Amélie..”

Angela looked into her eyes, wearing an unnaturally frightening expression.

“Did she touch you at funny places ?” 

“What ? No !?” 

_ “Unfortunately” her traitorous mind added.  _

“Ah I see..” 

Angela coughed into her hand, once again smiling like a personification of good will. 

“But if she ever did, you can tell me, I will put her back in line” 

“Ehm ok, but it is about Amélie”

Angela leaned in to listen

“Ok so yesterday, I saw her training, just asked her if she could teach me, and we kinda got to the topic of her time in the army. She looked like she was thinking, and then just froze. I tried calling to her, even shaking her, but for a good quarter of a minute, she was just frozen solid, completely non responding. After that, she just walked away, like nothing happened.”

  
Angela breathed in and out, taping her glasses a few times, clearly deep in thought. 

“That sounds... rather serious actually, I did not know that, not like Amélie would ever tell me. 

Clear look of irritation flashed over Angela's face. 

“As ever, keeping her strong facade, not willing to ask for help even if she was on the verge of death. Probably not to be “a bother”, even if I told her thousand times I am always here for her!”

As her rant finally died down, she looked to the silent girl in front of her, as if only now she noticed her presence. 

“Ah sorry, that's not something you need to worry about.”

The smile she put on was clearly stained, not that Lena was willing to call her out on it.

“As to what you just described to me, it is fairly common among retired military personnel, essentially a reaction to reliving an especially traumatic memory, I believe it's commonly referred to as a flashback.”

“So what do we do about”

“I…”

Angela bit on her lip in frustration”

“I am not sure. My speciality is picking apart people's bodies, not their minds. Perhaps I should contact her psychologist, she could definitely give us better answers, but I am fairly sure Amélie wouldn't be very thrilled about that.” 

“Psychologist ?”

“She never told you ? Amélie is required to visit a psychologist every week or so. I am surprised you don't know, she loves complaining about it. The only reason she actually attends the sessions is because the alternative to that is forced medical therapy.” 

“Yeah, that does sound like her…” 

“Doctor Satya Vaswani is one of the best psychologists in the country, but I am afraid Amélie doesn't exactly make it easy for her”

Angela sighted heavily, leaning against her chair. The kind blue eyes ridden with multitude of emotions, though none of them positive. 

“It's hard you know, we know each other since I started working here, I still remember her as a student. She was always so lively and cheerful, despite being a bit shy, you kinda remind me of her, honestly. It feels like yesterday, when she would come to this infirmary, faking an injury so she had an excuse to chat with me” 

“She did that ?” 

Angela laughed, clearly lost in her memories, it was rich and warm sound, immediately putting her at ease. 

  
  


“Yes, all the time - “Ehm doctor Ziegler, my head hurts can I stay here for a bit” 

Lena could only stare in amazement, it was almost impossible to imagine the Amélie she knew now saying something like that 

“It was so adorable, I never had the hearth to refuse her. When she returned here as a teacher, we bonded immediately, becoming best friends. Well, both of us had feelings for the other, far over simple friendship, but neither had the balls to confess. I still remember the moment she told me about the letter of conscription.” 

Amélies smile vanished, falling apart like made of glass. Her face was torn equally in sadness and anger, pain reflecting off her big blue eyes. It was a terrible sight to Lena, someone so kind as Angela had no business looking this hurt. 

“It wasn't even for her you know, she volunteered instead of her brother. That was just like her, willing to sacrifice anything for her loved ones. When she returned, I was overwhelmed with joy, thanking gods for listening to my prayers and keeping her alive. But soon, I realized she was... Not quite alright. Not that I expected her to be, after all she must have seen. 

Angelas expression twisted with regret. 

“I thought that if I simply stayed by her side, she would get better eventually, but it was false hope. I was always there for her, no matter the circumstances, to lend her a shoulder, to share her suffering - but she refused. Day by day, we began growing apart, I wasn't able to understand what she was going through, and she wasn't willing to open up to me.”

“I will help her !”

Lena herself was surprised by the sheer determination in her voice 

“I have to, after all she has done for me, even if it looks impossible, I have to try…”

She suddenly felt something soft on top of her head, Angelas smooth fingers ruffled her hair.

“Yes, keep at it, perhaps you will succeed where I failed”

**-/ / /-**

After that, the two women said their goodbyes and Lena left, though not before receiving a smothering hug from Angela. She hoped it cheered her up a bit, the kind doctor did not deserve to suffer. 

Even if she didn't really receive an answer to her question, it's not like she was leaving empty handed. 

_ “Satya Vaswani, that's the name of Amélies psychologist. If someone is gonna be able to give me the answer to this, it will be her.” _

Her next target known, she jogged back to the classroom

  
_ “One thing is for sure, I don't wanna be late on Amélie _ ' _ s lesson” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Satya Vaswani is symmetra, in case anyone forgot.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. Can I just say AO3 has a far better UI than fanficton.net, the time I spend to actually update a chapter there could rival the time I spend writing it. But anyway:

Very annoyed Amélie Lacroix walked down the corridor.

The students, immediately recognizing the danger, made way, very swiftly.

People stumbled out of the way, tripping over the bags thrown away in a hurry. Slackers, nerds, football players, cheerleaders, all quite literally jumping aside, like the ground was opening beneath them. The entire student body pressed themselves against their lockers in a desperate attempt to put as much distance between them and their currently very unhappy teacher as possible. 

Amidst the chaos, Amélie continued walking at a steady pace, watching the crowd opening before her. It wasn't like she was someone to take her frustration out on innocent children, but if it allowed her to walk down the busy hallway undisturbed, well, then she felt no need to point that out to them. 

One thing was for sure, she was currently not in a very good mood. Why ? Because it was one of those days, the days she had to swallow her pride and act as a labrat for some random woman who thought that a degree from psychology gave her complete understanding of every person on this planet. Of course, the dark skinned woman would always act like she should be grateful, that a professional of her calibre wastes time with a wild animal she undoubtedly came to see her as. 

In the end, she was made very aware that the alternative of attending their weekly session was a forced treatment in a mental ward. For that sole reason, she patiently tolerated the extreme displeasure of meeting Dr. Vaswani every week. Even if the highly unpleasant doctor psychoanalyzing her made her blood boil, she still preferred the annoying remarks about her mental state to being handcuffed in some padded white room. 

She had to give it to her, the woman had determination, even if it was likely born from the desire to have her put behind bars. She tried to frighten her into dropping it, yet in the face of explicit threats from someone she fully knew was a trained, cold-blooded killer, she remained resolute. That already put her bravery above even the most hardened soldiers she served with, and also won her the slightest amount of respect in her eyes. Not that she would let her know that. 

She also tried seducing her, which ironically enough, actually worked better than her threats, likely due to the fact she wasn't expecting it. But ultimately, it failed too. None of her less-than-subtle hints made it through the iron willed woman. Not for the lack of attraction, Amélie didn't need some fancy diploma to notice the gleam in her eyes that time she pushed her against the wall, but just like Amélie did with her desire to strangle the doctor upon meeting, she pushed it down and remained professional. 

Maybe that was for the best, just the thought of getting intimate with the woman made her skin crawl, and after threatening her with a murder multiple times, she was fairly sure the feeling was mutual. 

Maybe she could get political, the republican governor of their state was in the middle of his re-election campaign, so far with poor odds, as his democrat opponent continued gaining more support. She could send the desperate man a letter, heartbreakingly describing how she gave everything to serve her country, only to be labeled mentally unsound and treated as a dangerous psychopath. If there was something the proper god-fearing americans hated, it was the establishment disrespecting veterans, giving the man the opportunity to intervene in her defense, winning the hearts and minds of the voters. 

Her plotting was cut short, as a familiar blonde figure waved at her from across the hallway. 

As she watched Angela jogging to her excitedly with a big smile on her face, she immediately felt some of the frustration lifted off her shoulders. Amélie slowed her pace, letting them walk side by side. 

“Why so moody? Is it because you have a session today?” 

Amélie grunted in an agreement, letting Angela know how she felt about the so-called “session”.

Ignoring her friends apparent irritation, Angela grinned, not letting the opportunity to tease her slip by. 

“Really, after such a long time, I would expect you could at least get used to it” 

“I am forced to go there under the threat of being locked in an asylum for mentally ill, it's basically a hostage situation Angela, that's not something I plan to get used to.

“Well the few times I had an opportunity to talk with her, doctor Vaswani seemed like quite an accomplished professional. I am sure if you gave her a chance, you would get along. 

Get along. With her. Amélie pushed down the ill feeling forming in her stomach.

“Easy for you to say, you are not the one being psychoanalyzed every week. You know how uncomfortable it is, being examined like a piece of meat. She thinks I am some kind of insane sociopath. 

“Well you did threaten her with murder on several occasions……”

Amélie huffed, looking away. If Angela was a braver person, she may have used the term “pouted”, but she wasn't suicidal enough to use the word pout and Amélie in one sentence.

“That's beside the point ! I was just trying to discourage her from continuing with this charade, it's a completely normal reaction !” 

Judging from Angela's expression, she wasn't exactly convinced

“Sure it is……” 

A light punch hit Angela's shoulder

She could not help but burst out laughing, surprised by the rare show of childish behavior from the usually stoic woman. 

Amélie sent a flat stare her way, not very impressed with the way Angela was having fun on her behalf. It did not stop Angela from noticing how the corners of Amélie's mouth tugged ever so slightly upwards. 

“You know, since you adopted Lena, you are a lot more expressive.” 

“You are imagining things, and stop using the word adopted, I did no such thing. I am simply letting her stay until the matter with her father is taken care of” 

“Hmm… Did you actually try to solve the problem with her father ?”

From the look she was sending her, Angela didn't expect an affirmative answer

“I did, already picked a good spot on the building right next to the hospital. I reckon I can land a good shot from there without injuring the civilians.” 

Seeing Angela's horrified expression, she sighted 

“It was a joke. Why does everyone always act so surprised, am I banned from using humor or something?” 

“Ehm, yeah… I knew that, ha ha ha….”

Somehow, her acting skills failed to fool her. 

“Let me guess, during the kindergarten theatre performance, you played a tree” 

“How did you…”

Now was Angela's turn to pout and look away. 

_ “It's cute how she always does that...” _

“Anyway, speaking of Amélie, she was in the infirmary today”

Amélie's eyes widened slightly, before she regained her composure, and looked at Angela, lips set in a thin line.

“Did something happen to her ?” 

“Don't worry miss Lacroix, your daughter is well and sound” 

This time, she managed to dodge the strike aimed at her shoulder. 

“Sometimes I wonder why I continue to tolerate you..”

Taking an advantage of the now empty hallway, Angela leaned her chin on her shoulder. Or tried to. The difference in their height didn't make it easy. 

“Perhaps because we share deep emotional bond, and you secretly enjoy my presence” 

“Hmp, hardly...” 

It did not escape her attention how despite her words, Amélie wouldn't meet her eyes.

“Or maybe it's the fact we have sex.” 

“That sounds more likely” 

Most people would probably be shocked hearing someone as pure and innocent as Angela utterning those words so casually. Amélie didn't belong amongst those people, already knowing fully well how kinky the kind doctor really was. Let's just say that as the day turned into a night, Angela turned from an angel to a devil. 

Just as their conversation turned into a direction Amélie found pleasant, a figure of a late-middle aged man with broad shoulders appeared before them. 

Doctor Zeigler, may I borrow Amélie for a few words in my office ?

“Of course headmaster Morrison. See you tomorrow Amélie” 

Angela gave her one last smile and was off, leaving the two alone.

**-/ / /-**

“You should not play with women's heart Amélie”

“I do no such thing, and neither will I accept love advice from a man who has been single for 15 years straight.” 

“Heh, cheeky brat” 

  
As the man made to ruffle her hair, Amélie dodged, hissing like a angry cat

“Do you remember that time during your sixth birthday party, you slipped and scraped your knee. Your dad was out getting the pizza, so you ran to me, shouting: “Uncle Jack, uncle Jack ! my leg has blood on it” You acted like you were about to die” 

“Yes I remember, unlike you, I am not in the age where memory loss is a recurring problem.”

Despite her answer, Amélie smiled faintly, recalling the old memory. 

“Snappy are we, is it because of the psychologist thing ?, don't worry, I won't keep you long.”

“Words can not describe how grateful I am……” 

As the pair reached his office, the man, who was the reason for her continuous employment, sat down, and Amélie did the same. 

Any sane person would have fired her a long time ago, but well, not him. He probably feels responsible for her, since he was there when her father died. It's not like Jack could be blamed for a hidden sniper taking a shot, but he was the platoon commander, and they were under his command. She knew that feeling fell, the helplessness of watching your comrade bleed out while there was nothing you could do for him, or at least she used to... 

He coughed into his hand, drawing Amélies attention back to him. 

“Would you take a guess as to why I felt the need to talk to you” 

“Lena's father ?” 

He nodded 

“Lena's father” 

He looked at her expectantly, when she remained silent, he sighed deeply and continued. 

“Amélie, do you know how long does it take to wash out human blood from a carpet ?”

“For particularly persistent blood stains, apply small dose Hydrogen peroxide and let it take effect for about one to two hours. If an artery was hit, it may be necessary to increase the dose and wait up to six hours while adding roughly 40 grams of potato starch. As far as guts go, you need to…” 

Morrison raised his hand, signalling her to stop.

“It was a rhetorical question Amélie”

“Oh…” 

He watched as the embarrassed woman shuffled her legs, it would be almost comical if not for the fact they were discussing near-murder.

“That guy is a piece of shit and fully deserved it, that goes without saying. But if the local police force wasn't full of veterans, you would be already in jail”

“Let's be glad it is”

“You know, all it would take is one eager policeman doing his job, and you would be behind bars” 

Amélie looked to him, clearly not bothered with the threat of imprisonment

“I know people Jack, people for which manipulating a court of law would be nothing more than a formality. Plus I am already in prison, having to go to that psychologist every week, treated like a madwoman.” 

Dry laughter filled the room, until Morrison's raspy voice died down.

“Oh, Amélie, ever the drama queen. I somehow doubt a prison would allow you your favorite hobbies, such as reckless driving, alcohol, and spending nights with Angela” 

“Why don't you go to a session with her, see what it's like” 

“Well I did hear she's quite pretty one, so I just might…” 

Amélie's face cringed, looking at him with the expression of a 12 year old who just saw their parents flirting. 

“I honestly don't know which one of you I should pity more in that case..” 

Laughing again, Jack drew a bottle of whiskey from his cabinet, taking a generous sip of the amber liquid. His face turned serious, watching Amélie with a neutral gaze. 

“What of the girl ?”

“Lena ? I took her to my place for the time being, and plan to look after her until we find a solution to her problem.” 

“That's quite generous of you…”

“Well, I admit I was mostly the one who escalated the situation, so it's my duty to deal with the consequences. I can't send her back, that shit eating cunt would beat her to death.”

For once, Jack didn't call her out for her language 

“I see, how is the girl, must have been quite the shock” 

“Lena is quite well, especially considering what she had to go through. I am not really an expert in such matters, but I did everything I could to comfort her, and she seemed pretty cheerful the last few days.” 

“That's good, she didn't deserve the hell she must have gone through, nobody does.”

“Yeah….” 

“Amélie looked away, irritation once again resurfacing on her face. But the way her features strained, it was no simple annoyance. 

“I just…. I can't believe I didn't notice sooner. All this time, she has been abused, and I was completely obvious to it all. She always seemed so happy and full of energy, I had absolutely no idea something like this was happening. Now when I think about it, there have been hints,

clues - She avoided talking about her family, was injured all the time, even taking into account her sports career. She was constantly all over me, I thought it was just a cute gesture, but knowing what I know now…. I should have realized sooner, if I did then perhaps…” 

She felt Jack's big rough hand on her shoulder, stopping her. 

“It wasn't your fault Amélie, none of us knew, the bastard hid it well. You can't feel guilty because you can't read minds…”

“I guess….” 

Amélie straightened her back, forcing her expression back into the neutral clam mask she has grown so used to wearing in the last few months.

“Yes, in the end, it's better late than never. And she's a strong girl, always keeping her spirits high, refusing to give in to despair. I can not help but admire that. She will be fine, in time. And… 

Amélie gazed to the side and back, as if she had trouble finding the right words.

“We get on well. I suppose it's nice in a way, to have a company. I thought it would be annoying to put up with her, but it's actually relaxing. She's so full of life, always up to some silly stuff. You really won't get bored with Lena Oxton as a roommate. It's funny, hardly been a week but I have already grown so used to it, I can't really imagine going back…”

“Amélie, you realize she will move out eventually, right ?” Jack asked carefully

“Yes, of course..”

She looked up, almost surprised by his sudden words. 

“But there is no harm in enjoying it while it lasts no ?

  
“No, I suppose you are right.” 

The tall man smiled patronizingly and looked out of the window, spotting Lena, standing by Amélie's car.

“You should go now, wouldn't want to keep her waiting.” 

“Very well, see you later old man.” 

Just as the door was about to close behind her, he called out. 

“Amélie, you are a good person. Your father would have been proud of you.” 

The sound of doors closing was her only response. 

**-/ / /-**

She had no answer, nothing really came to mind. 

She felt a foregin feeling, bubbling up her chest. It was a strange mix of excitement, uncertainty, and maybe a little of… 

“Amélie” 

Lena was immediately by her side, grinning at her excitedly. 

“Hello Lena, how was school ?” 

“Oh it has been pretty great, the guys were fighting for Winstons notes again, and you wouldn't believe this but Ashe climbed up the peoples backs, she was actually touching the ceiling…. 

“I see….” 

“....And professor Mei was all like “Nooo help meee, I don't wanna dieee” so I told her to threaten them with you and it actually worked. 

“Hmm…..” 

“And I chatted with Hana. She was messing with me again, it almost looked like she was gonna kiss me or something, which is ehm, something I definitely wouldn't want…

“That's nice….” 

“Amélie ?”

“Hmm that's good…”

“AMÉLIE !” 

The teacher finally looked to her, a puzzled look on her face.

“Sorry, I was deep in thought.”

“Yeah I can see that….”

Just as Lena was about to enter the vehicle, Amélie's hand landed on her shoulder.

“Amélie ? what's wro..”

Any further words were cut off, as Amélie took hold of her back, and pulled her into a hug.

At that moment, Lena's mind experienced a forced shutdown. She could not think, only feel Amélie's warm body pressed against hers, her long slender arms wrapped around her midriff. 

But as suddenly as the hug happened, it came to an end. Before Lena could formulate any words, the warmth left her. Amélie was already sitting in the driver's seat, ready to head off, and looking at her like she was the weird one. 

She stood there for a solid thirty seconds, frozen, waiting for her brain to reboot. When she finally took a hold of herself, she stepped into the car, and looked at Amélie, confusion clearly written all over her face.

“Sooo ?” 

“....” 

_ “Great, another thing I won _ ' _ t get an answer for”  _

The ride home was a quiet one. Lena was lost for words, instead using the little brain capacity she had remaining to find an explanation for what the hell just happened. As for Amélie, she still seemed stuck in her little limbo, even driving like a sane person for once. Lena wasn't sure what to make of that.

Eventually, they arrived home in silence, but as Lena stepped out from the car, she noticed Amélie remained seated. 

_ “ _ I have some things to take care of in town, so I will come back later. There should still be some some chicken left from yesterday in the fridge” 

“Ah alright….” 

And just like that, she was left alone again. 

_ “Why wouldn't she just tell me she has to go to the psychologist, it's not like I would think any different of her…” _

Well, when Amélie refuses to let her help, she just has to take the matters into her own hands. 

Lena pulled out her phone, opening google maps and writing down the name she got from Angela. 

_ Psy.D. Satya Vaswani, renowned psychologist, offering therapy sessions using the most modern and effective methods. 440 West St, Fort Lee. Currently opened. _

_ “Bingo” _

**-/ / /-**

_ *Tic tac tic tac* _

Satya Vaswani, or symmetra to her friends, never realized just how loud her clock really is. 

To be fair, it was as quiet as it has always been, but now that the room was engulfed in total silence, both women subconsciously holding their breath, every tick of the clock seemed like a gunshot. 

“So …” 

Satya began, doing her best not to crumble under the intense gaze the woman in front of her has been sending her way. 

“...how have you been Amélie” 

“I feel fine” 

“Hmm that's good...”

Satya shuffled through the documents she has been holding, not really reading any of them, rather buying time to decide what to say next. 

“So did something significant happen in the time we haven't met ?”

“No, not really”

Satay kept her eyes firmly planted on Amélies, but her mask remained unhinged. The neutral expression the woman wore gave nothing away, at least nothing Satya could identify. 

“What about work ? Being a teacher must be pretty stressful job” 

“It is how it's always been. I feel fine” 

Satay pushed down the frown beginning to form on her face, and got up from her chair. She circled around Amélie, looking her up and down. It did not escape her attention how Amélie, despite keeping her poker face, stilled the moment she came close, legs flexed and ready to bolt out of the chair in a moment's notice. 

“I am not your enemy Amélie, I can help you, but only if you let me”

“Truly ?”

For the first time, her expression changed, if just slightly. Amélie was staring at her, one brow raised in question. 

Satya forced a smile on her face, attempting to appear pleasant, at least as much as one can when faced with a person who would kill them in a heartbeat. 

“Yes Amélie, that's all I want.” 

“Then kindly stuff the psychoanalysis in your ass, and let me go home. This “session” is easily my greatest source of stress the whole week.” 

Once again, Satya's mask cracked, irritation shining through. 

“I don't want to be here any more than you do.”

“Great, so it's decided then, I won't waste any more of your time, and both of us will be happy.” 

“Would that make you happy Amélie ?”

“I would be happier if I could burn this whole place down, but you gotta take what you can get” 

Satya looked away, no longer able to bear the intense gaze. It would be almost comical, if not for the fact Amélie was more than willing to go through with her threat. Taking some time to collect herself, she opened her cupboard, taking out a flask and pouring herself glass of the pure liquid inside. 

“Vodka ? I would expect something more refined for a professional of your calibre.” 

“Well I don't intend to spend my entire paycheck on alcohol, and I found my consumption growing significantly around the days we are scheduled to meet.” 

Amélie chuckleded 

The brun in her throat and alcohol flowing through her veins, Satay was ready to face Amélie again. 

“You say something like this and then wonder why I am so determined to continue the treatment.” 

“It's natural to voice your frustration, I am sure I am not the first one to tell you something like this” 

“No, you are not” Satay allowed, but before Amélie could open her mouth again, she continued. 

“But you are the only one I know who would be more than able to actually do so” 

“Hmmm” 

Amélie got up, gratefully jumping over the table, landing right beside Satya's chair. As the dark skinned woman made to stand, two strong arms pushed her back into her seat. Amélie kept her pinned to the chair, leaning against her, their faces were just a few inches apart. 

“Do you fear me doctor ?”

Satya's breathing grew ragged and uneven, her heart was beating in her chest with an increasing frequency and every muscle in her body was telling her to run. Yet, with the power of will alone, she forced herself to look at Amélie defiantly. 

“Yes, only a fool wouldn't be afraid of you. But it doesn't change what I have to do, and I won't back down, no matter what you do to me” 

She gripped Amélie by the shoulders and attempted to push her off. She knew it was futile, Amélie being far stronger than her. That's why she found herself quite surprised when Amélie let go off her, retreating back to her chair. 

“I can not decide wether you are brave or just stupid, but it seems you are determined to see this through” 

Satay let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, and wiped away sweat from her forehead. 

“I have no intention of leaving someone like you to roam the streets, not in this state anway.”

“Oh my doctor, I am quite hurt” 

Amélie fluttered her eyelashes at her, in a gesture that she probably thought was cute, but to Satya, it was frighteningly unnatural.

“I fought for your freedom too, you know”

Satay rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Yes, I am sure some poor middelastern country 10 000 miles away critically threatened the sovereignty of the most powerful nation on earth.” 

Amélie shrugged her shoulders 

“Fair point” 

That caught Satya off guard. 

“What ? I know you consider me a dangerous sociopath, but I do hope we established I am not a moron” 

“Then how do you deal with it, knowing that everything you fought for, and many of your comrades died for, was for naught ? Just another military adventure to rally the people and win the next election.”

“Well I hadn't exactly joined willingly” 

Satya's eyebrows rose in surprise, her hands grabbing the limited documentation she had about Amélie. 

“It's written here that you volunteered” 

Amélie chuckled, but the low voice and vacant look in her eyes didn't hint at much joy 

“I supposed I did in a sense. My brother was about to be conscripted. He is the kindest man I know, wouldn't have lasted a minute out here. He also just married recently, and they wanted to ship him off to some desert to die. So I did my duty as an older sister and “Volunteered” instead, even if it wasn't quite voluntary. I am surprised you didn't know that”

Amélie looked into the documents that fell out of Satya's hands.

“But I do see there's awfully lot of black marker there.

“I see, I haven't been aware....” 

Since the first time she met Amélie, something almost like a sympathy began to worm into Satya's heart. That was definitely not one of the emotions she associated with the terrifying woman. She always though Amélie simply jointed to indulge in her hobby of murder and bloodshet. But to knowing she actually had reason like that…”

“Stop !”

Amélies sudden voice broke her stream of thoughts, if only because it was delivered with much more vigor than the usual emotionless speech pattern Satya got used to from her.

And really, when she examined Amélie's face, she no longer saw her cold mask, but an angry frown. The way her facial features hardened in rage was the most emotion she ever saw Amélie express. It only occurred to her now that it may have not been a good thing. 

“Don't victimize me doctor, I have no need for your pity. I went there, did my duty, and survived, even made some good money along the way. That's more than you can say about most people who were used as pawns in that damnable conflict.” 

  
Satya was taken aback by this sudden show of emotion, but only for a second. 

_ “This is it, I broke her facade, now I may finally be able to get to her” _

“Amélie, I…” 

***beep beep beep***

Her words were interrupted by a timer going off on her table, signalling the end of their session. 

And just like that, Amélies face returned to normal. 

“I see the time is up doctor, I would say it was a pleasure, but that would be a lie. See you next week.” 

Before the shocked doctor could formulate a sentence, she was already off. 

**-/ / /-**

Satya walked down the empty street, both tired and confused. She always scheduled Amélie as her last session for the day, since their every meeting left her distressed enough she could hardly handle another patient. 

Unfortunately, as a result of her emergency glass of vodka, she had to walk home on foot. 

She was so deep in thought she nearly jumped as a strange figure approached her from behind. 

“Ehm, hey..” 

As she inspected the person in front of her, she calmed herself immediately. Standing there was a young woman with wildly flowing brown hair, wearing a casual hoodie and looking at her with a shy smile. Not exactly the archetype of a robber. 

Strange, she was fairly certain she never met this person before. As she looked her up and down, the girl in question shuffled her legs, looking away in embarrassment. 

_ “Is she trying to.. ask me out ?” _

She eyed the girl critically, which seemed to only mortify her further. 

She was quite pretty actually, if in more of a “cute” way rather than hot. Seemed relatively fit too. The short hair and baggy hoodie would mark her as a classic tomboy, not really what she would usually go for, but it had its charm. 

_ “Hmm, I really don't have a habit of humoring every stranger who asks, but I may make an exception this time. She is good looking enough, and I really need to work out some frustration from that meeting, perhaps one casual night may help with that.”  _

“....Are you the psychologist Amélie Lacroix goes to ?”

Her earlier thoughts abandoned, she looked at the girl curiously. 

“I might be, why do you ask ?” 

“Well… She is my teacher.” 

Lena yelped as the woman grabbed her by the shoulders and pressed her face dangerously close to her own

“Did she hurt you ? Or threatened you ? I knew something like this would happen eventually. Don't worry, you can tell me, I will protect you…”

“No !” 

Lena shook her hands off, looking scandalised by the suggestions.

“Why would you think that ? She actually helped me a lot.” 

“Her ?”

Satya did not bother hiding her surprise 

“We are speaking about Amélie Lacroix right ?”

“Yeah her. Look, there is some stuff I need to know about, and you are my best bet. I promise it won't take long.”

_ “I don't usually share my pantien _ ' _ s situation with people out of principle, but meeting a student of Amélie Lacroix.. Well I think that's worth it .” _

“Very well I live not too long from here, follow me.”

“Really..?, I mean sure, yeah, lets go”

And so the unlikely pair walked together down the dark, empty street, towards Satya's home, and hopefully some answers. 

**-/ / /-**

Lena sat on a leather sofa, watching her host pouring her a cup of tea. As she waited for her to sit down, she idly wondered if there was some unwritten law in the universe that every woman who has something to do with Amélie must be drop dead gorgeous.

_ “Not right now hormones, this is important !” _

“So let me get this straight - Amélie is your teacher and you have been abused by your father. After she learned what was happening, she had beaten him to an inch of his life, and adopted you. You live together ever since” 

Lena cringed

_   
_ _ “Summed up like that, it really sounds pretty weird” _

“Ehm yeah, pretty much..” 

“That's… surprising to say the least...” 

Beyond her mask of professionalism, Satay felt shellshocked, like someone had thrown her into a barrel filled with ice cold water. 

_ “I cant believe that someone like her would actually do all of this. What does she gain from it ?, it can't be purely altruistic behaviour, that's just not like her. But then again, maybe it's a coping mechanism, she identifies with her trauma and decided to protect her, making up for her own damaged mental state. Or does she simply see it as doing her duty. Could someone so cold blooded like her simply fall for a cute face? No impossible… But it may be her innocence that draws Amélie to her…”  _

“Why should that be surprising ?!” 

_ “The girl sounded offended on her behalf, do they possess such a strong bond ?” _

“Lena, I know you mean well, but you don't know her like I do.” 

Lena rose from the couch, pointing her finger at Satya, anger clear in her features.

“And you don't know her like I do !”

“Lena, have you seen her body count ?”

“She was just doing what she had to !” 

“I haven't either,” Satay admitted. 

“It was censored, like most of the data I have about her. What worried me was just how long the black line was. That number had more than one or two digits.

“And what of it !”

Lena could hardly hold herself back. Who was this person to judge Amélie for something she was forced to do. Her breathing has grown uneven, face red, she felt the control slowly slipping from her grasp. When she spoke, her voice resembled the hissing of a snake.

“I don't care what she had done. She was always there for me, even before all of this… she.., she taught me how to live, without her, I would be nothing..

Satya being too stunned by her sudden outburst to speak, Lena continued. 

“When I was at my absolute worst, and everyone refused to even bother, she approached me, lent me a shoulder to cry on, and made me what I am today. Even after the terrible things she must have suffered through, she continues to look after me. So is it so surprising, that after everything she had done for me, I want to help her with her own problems ? Or should I just discard her like a broken toy, as they did to me before she showed up ? Would that be considered “normal” ?” 

Lena's voice was hoarse, she clearly wasn't used to shouting like this. Taking a few heavy breaths, her expression turned from anger to sorrow. She looked like a kicked puppy. There was heartbreaking helplessness, reflecting from those big brown eyes of hers.

“She's suffering, she tries to hide it, tries to not make us worry, but it's there, the pain is clear as day. I can't just watch her slowly drown in despair as I stand there, unable to do anything. I have to help her, but, I.. I don't know how.. I am just a highschool student for fucks sake, I would do anything for her, but it just seems like every time I express concern for her she just shrugs it off and keeps on being silently miserable. 

Lena's hand latched to Satya, she was holding her by the shoulders, like a pleading mother with a dying child on her lap 

“You have to help me, please you are the only one who..”

  
“Okay...I will help” 

Satya may have been the best psychologist in the state, but those puppy eyes were too much even for her. 

“So what do I have to do ?”

“Well, you can start by letting off me..”

Lena, only now realizing she was still holding onto the black haired beauty, blushed furiously retreating her hands and jumping back to the couch with lighting speed.

“Ah yeah, sorry about that…”

Satay chuckled softly as the girl's expression shifted from distress to embarrassment in the blink of an eye. She was really adorable one, perhaps that's how she got so close to the otherwise terrifying woman. 

  
“I will have to admit that despite my vast experience with treating veterans of this conflict, I achieved virtually no progress with Amélie. She is…different league entirely. First off, she was no normal soldier, apparent by the fact most of her documentation of her is censored, pointing to a secret special unit of some kind. Those kinds of organizations doing the work too dirty for the common honorable american trooper. It is difficult to treat her when I know basically nothing about her actual experiences. The fact she seemed bent on sabotaging my efforts doesn't help.” 

“There has to be something…”

“Well, in that regard, you know more than I. Why don't you tell me more about your life together and her behaviour. Spare no details, even the tiniest things can prove crucial.” 

And so Lena did, telling her the whole story of her and professor Lacroix, from start to finish. The entire time, Satya listened carefully, making notes every few minutes. When Lena finished her tale, both women were exhausted. 

“That's… a lot to take in. Its fairly apparent Amélie's emotionless behaviour is a psychological defense mechanism, likely allowing her to mentally separate herself from the horrors she suffered. But more than that.. I am not sure, I need to look through all of this and think, then I will surely come up with something.” 

Lena's expression was one of a badly hidden disappointment. 

“I see, thanks, so, for now, there is nothing I can do ?”

“I didn't say that. Amélies emotional detachment is making it impossible to reach any significant progress, as long as she doesn't accept her own trauma, I can not successfully treat it. But from what I have heard today, you managed to crack that emotionless mask. It may not look like much to you, but compared to earlier, there is no doubt her mental state is improving due to your presence. For now, I would simply advise you to keep doing what you already do, maybe even increase your efforts, but be careful to always give her space.”

Big wide smile spread itself across Lena's face, her big eyes filled with almost childish joy.

“Right, I got it doc”

Unable to resist the sudden urge, Satya rose and ruffled the girls messy brown hair

“H-hey…” 

“You are a good girl Lena, if there were more people like you, the world would be a better place. But you should go, it's getting late and I don't want Amélie thinking I keep you hostage.” 

“Actually, I was hoping you could keep this between us, Amélie didn't even tell me she goes to a psychologist, I don't want to look like I am invading her privacy” 

“Hmm, that may be a good idea, I will stay quiet then.”

As Satay accompanied Lena outside, a funny thought struck her. 

“You know, when you approached me, I actually thought you wanted to ask me out.” 

Faint blush returned to Lena's face 

“Jeez, that must have been weird, I am glad you didn't pepper-spray me before I even got a chance to talk to you”

Satya laughed, sending Lena bemused look 

“Don't be silly Lena. I am always terribly stressed after Amélie's session, and for a moment, I thought I may indulge you for an evening and work some of that frustration out.” 

“Wait what ?”

Satya kept smiling to herself, not noticing the way Lena's eyes widened. 

“It sounds stupid I know. I am glad it did not come to it, I can not imagine what Amélie would do to me if I fooled around with her protegee.” 

“....”

With that, Satya waved one last time and disappeared around the corner.

Lena stood there, frozen 

_ “Well, I actually met her, and she promised to help me, that's good…” _

But despite her relative success, an entirely different thought engulfed her mind. 

_ “I almost got laid, and with a woman so out of my league it wasn't even funny.” _

She looked at her shaking hands 

_ “If only I stayed quiet for a few more seconds, I could have….” _

A long piercing scream echoed through the night sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is both my longest and shortest chapter. Longest by the word count, and shortest by the time it actually took to write, that being something over two days. It's likely due to the small amount of Amélie-Lena interactions. When I write conversations between Angela/Satya and Amélie, I can do so quite swiftly since their relationship is secondary to the story and I don't have to think too hard over it. But with Amélie and Lena, I have think carefully about every paragraph in the sense of what it means for the future development. 
> 
> PS: The stuff about getting rid of blood stains is actually legit, don't ask me how I know.
> 
> PSPS: I know because googled “How to clean blood stains from the carpet”. 
> 
> PSPSPS: This chapter would be updated significantly sooner if google docs didn't keep autocorrecting Satya to Satay


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing my own fanfic made me greatly admire the authors who set up a firm upload schedule and manage to stick to it. I am not amongst them, but I do have a somewhat solid excuse for my absence - I was working abroad for a month, and there wasn't exactly much time for writing. Anyway, seems like I will have to speed things up a bit, the start of a new semester is drawing close, and once the school starts, my free time is effectively zero. Despite that, I would like to finish this story, it would feel kinda wrong towards the few people reading it if I didn't.

If Lena had any hope of returning to the house unnoticed, the loud  _ creak  _ of the door buried it almost immediately.  _ “Alright Lena, you can do this, you were hanging out with Hana the whole evening, no funny psychiatric business” _ . Breathing in and out a few times, she steeled her resolve, and stepped into the living room. 

As expected, Amélie was there, sitting in front of a pile of paper which appeared to be the tests they took a few days ago. Lena really hoped hers wasn't amongst them, impersonal pronouns weren't really her strong point. However, Amélie's gaze was firmly set on Lena, she could swear those sharp amber eyes were staring deep into her very soul. 

The clock ticked as Lena felt sweat starting to drip down from her forehead. The script she kept rehearsing the entire way home forgotten, she waved her hand and forced a smile on her face. 

“Hey...” 

Amélie flashed her a brief smile, her posture was relaxed, yet full of dignity, stark contrast to Lena, fidgeting on the spot. 

“Hello Lena, you arrived quite late, seems like Hana kept you busy.” 

“Oh yeah, we had loads of fun, we were hanging out, talking about stuff, like sports and games and…”

“You don't need to tell me in such great detail, I know you may find it hard to believe, but I was a teenager once too.”

“Ehm right...”

Lena looked away in embarrassment.  _ “Crap, now it sounds like I implied she's old. Should I tell her she still looks great? No, that would sound even weirder…” _

Amélie chuckled softly, finding amusement in the poor girl's suffering. 

“I made you something to eat, are you okay with scrambled eggs and bacon ?”

“I actually ate at Hana's house so..”

“Nonsense, look at those thin hands, you need some protein. Proper nutrition is vital when engaging in sport activity.” 

Any further arguments were cut off as two hands firmly took her shoulders and pushed her into a chair next to Amélie's. 

“So, *chmst* maybe you should oil the doors a bit, it creaks like crazy.

“First, don't talk with your mouth full..”

“Eh  _ *glump*  _ okay mum…”

“Brat” 

Lena stuck her tongue out, which maybe wasn't the most mature gesture but got the message across.

“Anyway, I like it this way, I don't want people sneaking up on me. Did you know that Stalin had intentionally outfitted his bodyguards with creaking shoes so they wouldn't be able to catch him off guard and assassinate him. Not knowing that, one of them had his boots fixed, and was executed immediately for treason.” 

“Jeez, will you execute me if I oil the door ?”

“That's for the people's tribunal to decide, comrade Lena.” 

The girl snickered, accidentally spilling some of the tee on the table.

“Watch it, you wouldn't want to damage your classmate's tests, would you.” 

“Yeah sur..”

Lena stopped suddenly, her entire body going stiff. There, nearly on top of the pile, her test was sticking out, waiting to be corrected. 

Amélie, blind to her struggles, went over the paper she was currently holding. “Hmm perfect score, Hana doesn't exactly pay too much attention during the lecures, but with those results, who am I to complain? Now who should I take next….

Lena stood up, like the chair was on fire, legs already tilted to the stairs and desperately trying to keep her face from cringing. 

Well I am gonna go, lots of studying to do so…”

“Hmmm ? why don't you stay a bit longer Lena, you were out the entire day. I may be your teacher, but that doesn't mean you have to avoid me. There is no problem with having pleasant evening chat from time to time.”

“Oh no, it's not like I don't want to have a pleasant evening -ehm chat with you, it's just..”

A terror took hold of her, as she helplessly watched Amélie's hand slide towards her test.

“Look what we have here, it's your paper, let me take a look.

“Do you hear that sound, I think my phone is ringing in my room, I better go there and take it…” 

“Lena, your phone is in your pocket, and it most certainly does not ring..”

“Ah well…” Lena slowly put her foot forward, and shifted her weight “that's because...” 

Shooting from the chair like a bullet, Lena made a run for it. She managed to run respectable one feet of distance before a strong hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her back, pinning her to the chair. 

She could only watch in horror as Amélie analysed her test, frown slowly forming on her features as she went over the answers. Every time the red marker touched the paper, Lena felt as if someone stabbed a dagger into her gut. At the end of it, she was reduced to sweating mess, eyes wide and body shaking. Amélie put the paper down, and looked to Lena with her eyebrow raised. 

“So I am guessing it's not an A ?”

Amélie sighted, like this whole ordeal made her age ten years in one minute. “No it's not an A”

“It's not my fault French is hard !”

“It's hardly the most difficult language to learn.”

“That's not fair! French is your native language, you never had to learn it from scratch!”

“French is not Hana's native language either, but she still got maximum score”

Lena looked down in defeat. Stupid Hana with Her stupid perfect grades. 

“Now aside from the usual pronouns - "I", "you", "he", "she", etc. French also has an undefinitive pronoun "on" which can be used for many purposes and can be translated many different ways depending on the context. You always need to....

As Amélie went on, Lena felt despair bubbling inside her, this was going to take a while…

**-/ /-**

When Lena finally arrived to her room, she collapsed into the bed, face firmly planted onto the soft pillow.  _ “Ughh, why do I have to learn languages anyway? I am American, everyone speaks our language. And if they don't, we make them speak it and take their oil. Now if I could just have a little nap..” _

Her phone started ringing. 

_ “Oh great…” _

Rallying all the power left in her body, she rolled to the side, blindly running her hand along the mattress until she found the phone and looked at the screen. She was greeted with an image of a pretty brown haired girl flashing a peace sign. Lena pressed accept and prepared for the inevitable. 

“Hana what's up ?” 

“I think I should be the one asking that, considering Amélie flippin' Lacroix called me out of nowhere, asking when she should pick you up. I don't even know how she got my number!” 

The mental fatigue momentary forgotten, Lena shot out of the bed, clutching the phone with a panicked expression. “What did you tell her?” 

“Well I covered for you, duh. Told her we are fine and you still want to hang out for a while.” 

Lena breathed out, feeling the massive weight lift off her shoulders “Thanks Hana, really, you are the best.”

“Of course I am. Still, where have you been? Are you two timing professor Lacroix ? Oh Lena, I am so proud of you  _ *sniff* _ they grow up so fast…

“Shut up, it's about...” Lena looked around, as if expecting Amélie to emerge from her closet any minute. Her ears picked up water running, Amélie was probably taking a shower, so there was no risk of her listening. 

“Alright, you wouldn't believe what happened….

…………….

Hana Song was sitting in her padded gaming chair, head leaning against the soft leather cushion. Her pale face was illuminated by the big screen in front of her, displaying the starcraft II menu. The monitor went black suddenly, only to turn on again when Hana poked the mouse with her leg. That was like the fourth time screen saver came on during their conversation. Hana didn't even know she had a screensaver, never being inactive for long enough for it to turn on. She loved her friend, she really did, but when Lena started talking about something she considered exciting, well, you better prepare for a long night. 

When the voice coming out of the device finally went silent, Hana silently thanked all the gods she could think of, and spoke for the first time in over an hour. 

“So let me get this straight - You stalked her psychologist, cornered her in the middle of the street, invaded her home, shouted at her, and went home with no real useful info whatsoever. 

“Jeez, it sounds kinda bad when you put it like that” 

“Plus, you almost got laid, only for you to fuck it up unknowingly, losing that chance forever. 

“Fuck you Hana!” 

The girl giggled “Oh I bet you would love to. I am not really that easy, but maybe if you begged me for it, I would take a pity on you and pop your cherry…” 

Lena was glad Hana wasn't there in person to see her cheeks glowing red. “Shut up, you idiot!” 

“Idiot huh? Last time I checked, I aced that french test, as opposed to a certain horny tomboy.” 

“Well, go live with her if you are so smart!” 

“Recruiting me to your harem ? Tempting offer, but I wouldn't want to get between you and your only true love.” 

“Did someone take a piss in your morning coffee or something ?” 

“You know I don't drink coffee, but someone did keep me on the phone for over an hour.” 

“What are you talking about, it has only been a couple of minutes…, Lena looked at the time displayed on her screen, her eyes growing wide at the sight of just how much time has passed “Uh, alright, maybe it was a bit longer, sorry..”

“It's alright, not like I have anything better to do anyway.”

“It's just… I am glad to know what I am doing may be helping her, but I kinda expected… you know…”

“...That she would give you an actual solution” Hana finished. “Look Lena, if there was just some easy thing that you could do to immediately solve all her mental problems, psychologists would be out of job. Plus, every patient cured is a customer lost.”

“Ugh, I hope you won't ever become a doctor, or anyone with direct control over people's well being.” Suddenly, a frightening thought entered her mind “Hey, you sure Amélie also didn't call your parents, what if she did and they told her I was never there.”

Hana shrugged. “They wouldn't know, both of them are on a business trip.” 

“Weren't they also on a business trip the last time I was at your place?” 

“I guess. They came back for a weekend about three months ago, and then headed for New York. Maybe they will return for christmas, maybe they won't, it's hard to guess. Anyway, they send me as much money as I ask for without questions, So I shouldn't complain too much.”

“O-oh I see, well.. You have the house for yourself all the time, so that's pretty great, right ? 

“Yeah…” Hana looked through her open door, into the living room. There were no magazines on the table, no half-empty glasses, no crumbs stuck in the carpet. Aside from a bit of dust here and there, all the opulent furniture bore no signs of use. It was quite funny, that so-called living room could be so devoid of any life, safe for a few spiders making their webs in the corners. 

“It's pretty great...” 

“R-right” The lack of enthusiasm in Hana's voice was hard to miss. “Hey, why don't I come over tomorrow for real, it's been some time since I came to visit.” 

  
“Don't you think the professor would find that bit suspicious, visiting me two days in a row ?”

“Well maybe.., but this time, I will actually be there, so it doesn't matter even if she came to check it. I can just tell her I came to pick up some stuff I left there, and ended up staying longer. C'mon Hana, it's been so long since we last hung out like this, I didn't think I would ever say this, but I am starting to miss you.”

“A-ah, ehm.., if you want to, I guess I could put up with you for a day... But make sure to tell her it's a purely friendly visit, I don't want to be assassinated because Lacroix thought I was seducing her favorite girl-toy. 

“You are terrible Hana...” 

“Yep, that's just me. See you tomorrow.”

“See yea, good night”

“night” 

**-/ /-**

Lena was falling. 

As she watched the ground beneath her rapidly approach, there was but one thought in her mind - “ _ Is this how I die, after everything that happened, this is it? I never even told Amélie how I feel about her, maybe I should have..”  _

She never finished that thought as her body jerked and suddenly came to a halt. For a few seconds she was just hanging there, like some grotesque christmas decoration. 

_ “Why did I agree to this”  _

“Lena, grab the rope and climb over, you will get a bruise otherwise!” 

Amélie was standing at the top of the rock they were climbing, looking absolutely unaffected by the extremely physically demanding activity. She also wasn't wearing any protective gear or rope, because apparently “It slowed her down”. 

Lena was about to shout back that her entire body was covered in bruises, one more would hardly make a difference, but bit down on her words at the last second. She was the one who insisted on coming with Amélie, so complaining about it would be a dump. 

Using all her remaining strength, she pushed past the fatigue that engulfed her entire body, grabbed the rope, and swung herself towards the rock. Finding good footing, she threw her weight forward, barely managing to grab onto a crack in the rock and keep herself from falling again. 

“Good job, take my hand, I will help you up” 

Lena grabbed the muscular arm that was extended to her, and pressed her feet against the rock to climb over the edge. She didn't need to, because Amélie practically hauled her over, effortlessly dragging her entire weight up with one arm like some sort of a hydraulic cane.

Lena didn't get up, instead choosing to lie down and stare into the sky, doing her best to not faint from exhaustion. 

“Are you quite alright Lena ?” 

“Y-Yeah,  _ *huff* _ I am..  _ *huff* _ alright..” 

Maybe it would sound more convincing if she wasn't hyperventilating, but she couldn't bring herself to care. 

When she noticed Amélie bringing a bottle to her lips, she didn't think twice about gulping down the liquid. Such was her exhaustion, that she didn't even pay attention to the way Amélies breasts, only covered by a short sportshirt, were dangling above her face.

“I think that's enough for today.”

“I can  _ *huff _ * continue  _ *huff*...” _

_ “ _ Don't be stupid Lena, overestimating your strenght is number one killer in rockclimbing” 

“Really? I thought it would be, you know… falling down. 

“Heh, if you can joke, your condition can't be that bad. We still have to get down afterall.” 

“Way down is easier than up, right?” 

“Getting down can be considerably easier and faster, if you don't mind striking the ground at terminal velocity.” 

“Knowing you, you would just fall on all four and survive it” 

“Are you calling me a cat ?” 

“More like a tiger, luring its prey with a promise of a nice and relaxing afternoon outside, only to drag it to the mountains and feast on its pain and misery:” 

“Hmm I am feeling quite relaxed myself.” She extended her hand to Lena, who took it and let herself be lifted up on her feet. 

“Down we go then..”

**-/ /-**

When they finally got to the car, Lena could hardly stand. She practically collapsed into the seat, enjoying the soft leather pressed against her wet skin. Her clothes were drenched with sweat, and she was fairly sure she smelled worse than a garbage bin. 

Her worries were swept aside the moment the seat started vibrating.

“Hmm, thats nice..” 

“It has massage function, as well as heating, individual stiffness setting, and memory foam inside it.” 

“Damm, how much did it cost ?”

“A lot, but I find it worthed.” 

“Tell me about it...” Lena lowered the seat so she was practically laying down, glad that Amélie was driving normally for once. It was probably on purpose, few sharp turns in her state could have some pretty nasty consequences, and she didn't exactly want to vomit inside a car more expensive than her house. 

“Did they pay you this much because you were like some super mega elite soldier?”

“That may be a small part of it, but it was mainly to keep us quiet. You won't feel the need to leak secrets to the press for money if they give you enough of it to spend the rest of your life in luxury. One of the guys I served with bought a small hotel complex in the Bahamas, lives there ever since. 

“Wow, so that's where our taxes go ?”

“You are a student Lena, you don't pay taxes.”

“Ah, yeah..” Lena scratched her head in embarrassment. 

And financially speaking, it's not that bad of an idea. Most of us didn't survive anyway, so there weren't that many people to pay off. 

“A-ah, I see…”  _ “wow, not ominous at all”  _

**-/ /-**

When they arrived home, Lena was half asleep. It was only the sudden sound of the garage door opening that made her crack one of her eyes open. It revealed Amélie Lacroix standing above her with an amused expression. 

“Rise and shine Lena”

“I don't wanna..”

“Get up, I need to start making dinner.” 

Lena really wanted to, but the leather seat was just so warm… 

She extended her arms towards Amélie “Carry me” 

The tall woman chuckled “Seems like I spoiled you too much Lena, or is this perhaps your rebellious phase?” 

As the brown haired girl made to get up, she was suddenly swept off her legs and lifted into the air. With her both eyes now fully opened, she stared into the face of Amélie Lacroix, as the usually intimidating woman carried her bridal style. 

“Eeek! Put me down!” 

“What is the matter Lena?, you wanted to be carried and I obliged.” 

“B-but…” 

  
Amélie, not bothered by her pleas, carried the mortally embarrassed girl into the living room.

Lena, for her part, was frozen like a deer in a headlight, only realizing what exactly was happening. Amélie was carrying her - as if that wasn't bad enough, her sport shirt was thin and wet from the exercise, fitting so tightly against her chest like it wasn't even there. That was a problem because due to the nature of their position, Lena's head was laid exactly between Amélies sizable breasts. All of that while her strong yet tender hand was wrapped around her thighs, just a few inches from her butt. When she looked up, she was greeted by Amélie's beautiful face, grinning at her mercilessly.

_ “Shit my face must be all red at this point, what is she gonna think? At least she can't recognize I am getting wet with that sweat all over me.” _

Not able to bear the eye contact anymore, she pushed her face further into Amélie's chest. 

_ “Holy shit, do I feel a nipple ?”  _

She did not have much time to dwell on it, since Amélie's grip suddenly vanished and Lena was left falling down like a sack of potatoes, landing in the cough beneath her. 

“Ugh, you could have just laid me down normally” 

“Oh well, I suppose I could have, that's a thought for another time” Amélie responded with a comically innocent expression. Somehow, Lena wasn't buying it. 

“If that terrible fall didn't injure you too badly, you can go and take a shower, I will make something for us to eat in the meantime.” 

“Okay, I will just…” Lena lazily rolled over, not particularly eager to part with the warm feeling of the soft cough she was resting on. 

“Hmmm? Should I carry you again?” 

In a split second, Lena went from laying down to standing, practically catapulting herself off the couch. “Eh, Nah, I am good, I will just... ehm go” With that, she sprinted towards the bathroom like she was about to win a gold medal. 

Left standing in the room alone, Amélie chuckled “Heh, too easy. Now, I bet Lena wouldn't say no to a nice big piece of steak….”

**-/ /-**

The clouds of steam filled the bathroom, so much you could hardly see to the other end. In the middle of this stood Lena, letting the hot water flow over her naked body, washing down both the filth and the mental fatigue she was feeling. 

“Hmmm, yeaaah, this is it….” 

After being broken down by their little rock climbing adventure, the sweet touch of hot water to her bruised skin was nearly orgasmic. She felt like she could stay forever like this, just enjoying the addicting feeling of…” 

“Lena! The dinner is ready!” 

“Yeah! I am coming!” Lena turned off the water, briefly drying her wet body before slipping into her clothes and stumbling her way down down the stairs, all of that in a record time and almost falling a few times. 

Just as she made it down, the delicate smell of cooked food invaded her nostrils. Sitting down, a piece of steak was laid down before her. Lena wasted no time and got to business, immediately stuffing her mouth full the tasty meat. 

Amélie watched the scene before her, shaking her head. “Don't eat so fast, I won't be saving you if you choke on it, and you shouldn't shower for that long either, it's bad for your skin.” 

“Ahm,  _ *glump*  _ you are really getting into this mum act bit too much, is that some subconscious inner desire you are trying to fulfill through me?” 

“If you were my child, I would throw you out on the streets without second thought, you brat.” despite the threat, her words weren't quite matching the amused expression Amélie wore. 

Both of the women went quiet, enjoying their meal. That gave Lena a bit of time to think.

_ “She has really gotten more expressive since we started living together. I can't believe it's been over two months, time sure runs fast. Still, with the way things are now, I can't imagine going back to the impersonal teacher-student relationship. Before, she was just a cold teacher I had some personal history with, but now… she's the integral part of my life. After getting used to this, to her subtle but meaningful shows of affection, to the whole weird but somehow heartwarming dynamic we got going on, going back would be just….”  _

“What is it Lena, you look gloomy, don't you like the food?” 

_ “Crap, I got caught up in thoughts and must have looked weird”  _ “Eh? No, the food is great, it's just… You don't really look exhausted at all, after all that climbing, I felt like I died several times over yet you didn't even break a sweat.” Lena looked to Amélie with a shy smile, hoping that her attempt to divert the conversation from her true thoughts would work. 

“I see, I suppose it had to be quite intense for a beginner. Even if you are physically fit, you specialize in running, while rock climbing requires you to have solid upper body strength. Still, you did quite well despite that.” 

Lena could not help but grin in satisfaction from the rare but honest praise.

“As for me, well, The terrain of Iran is exceptionally mountainous, especially the western part bordering Iraq from which the invasion was launched. Considering my role as a marksman operating behind enemy lines, rock climbing was an absolute necessity. Most of the time spent on an operation would usually consist of traversing rock formations in order to get into a good position to launch a surprise raid. I admit, despite my… intensive training, rock climbing in extremely high altitude, with ballistic vest, rifle, ammo and supplies for several days, was quite a challenge. Compared to that, what we did today is like a morning jog.” 

“Damm, sounds pretty tough. But at least the pay was worth it, right?”

“Worth it….” There was a strange distant look in Amélie's eyes, she appeared to be deep in thought, as if reliving one particular memory. 

“No. I don't think it was worth it” the tone in which Amélie voiced her conclusion sounded melancholic, perhaps even a bit sad, definitely not something Lena was used to hearing from the ever cool headed woman. Before Lena had a chance to steer the conversation away from the obviously touchy subject, Amélie continued. 

“Was it worth it- the massive loss of life, or just losing the sense of your own self? And what was the ultimate victory that was supposed to justify the bloodshed that took place? Destroying another of the countless hostile regimes too far to realistically threaten us, or perhaps gaining trade superiority in the region and securing natural resources?”

Lena did not miss the way Amélies fingers wrapped around her chair, knuckles growing white and crack gradually forming on the wooden surface. Desperate to say something she shouted.

“But they were the bad guys! They executed people for speaking against the government, tortured and imprisoned opposition members, practiced curel medieval-like punishments for even the smallest misdemeanours. We couldn't just let that happen!” 

Amélie looked up to her as if she only now noticed her presence, the haze in her eyes disappeared, replaced by the normal neutral expression she usually wore. 

“Oh yes, you are right in that regard, it was an absolutely despicable regime that oppressed its people and deserved to be overthrown. The thing is, everything you said could also easily describe Saudies, and other countries in the region that went to war on our side. Despite committing practically the same crimes as Iran, they are amongst our greatest and most trusted allies, and we gladly sell their governments weapons in order to remain in power. Is it better to allow a brutal dictatorship to exist, or overthrow it and deal with deadly civil war spanning for decades? I will leave that question to philosophers and journalists, but one thing is for sure - we didn't go to war over altruistic reasons. Nobody ever does.” 

“But, but…” Lena's mind sought to come up with something, anything to dispute what she just heard. Before she could formulate her response, she felt a warm hand land on her head. 

Amélie ruffled her hair, wearing a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach her eyes “But that's not something you need to worry about. Sorry, it would seem I got caught up in old memories. In the end, I returned alive and well, so it doesn't really matter.”

“But do you feel well ?” The question slipped out of her mouth before she had time to think about it. She shuffled her legs under Amélie's questioning gaze “Psychologically I mean…”

“Me? I feel alright. You don't need to worry about that” 

“Well I mean… anybody would be kinda… stressed, if they have been through something like that.” Amélies gaze was gaining on intensity, and all her reflexes told her to look away and change the subject. Despite the sweat running down her hair, she held her ground. “You don't have to pretend everything is alright all the time, it's not a weakness to depend on someone.”

“Lena, I know you mean well, but stop. As I told you, it's not something you need to worry about.” 

“Of course I worry, I care about you for fuck's sake!” Lena shouted, standing up, knocking down the chair she was sitting on. The brief shock of the woman in front of her gave her time to continue. “You always act like this lone wolf, like you have no choice but to deal with everything yourself, but that's just complete bullshit. You have people who care about you, people who wouldn't hesitate to help, if only you gave them a chance.” 

I don't want your help Lena, just sto-” 

“I don't care!” The look Amélie was sending her now was positively furious. But if she were to falter now, all she had done would be for nothing. “You have always been there for me. When I needed it the most, you would offer me whatever help you could, I practically owe you my life…” The sudden change of tone made Amélie recoil back, she looked… almost afraid, like a cornered wild animal, and didn't even pull back when Lena took her hand into hers. “...so is that strange, that I want to help you too, be there for you like you did for me ?”

“I-I…” Now it was Amélie who was lost for words, opening and closing her mouth like fish choking on air.” In the end, she looked away. All bravado leaving her, she sighted, leaning into her chair. At that moment, she just looked tired. Lena was shocked, she has never seen Amélie look so fragile. It just felt wrong. 

“What do you want me to say Lena? That I killed a bunch of people, that I am fucked up in the head. Yeah obviously, you know as well as I that I changed, and not for the better. Do I feel guilty? No not really, I did at the beginning, but with every kill, that feeling grew weaker, and now - I can't really bring myself to feel anything…” 

Lena didn't know what to say, despite planning on confronting Amélie, she never really thought what to do if she got through her. So instead of talking she just squeezed her hand comfortingly. 

Amélie seemed to get a grip on herself after that, since she looked into Lena's eyes again, with a melancholic smile on her face. 

“But don't feel too sorry for me. Remember - I slaughtered untold number of people, not out of hate or patriotism, but because I was told to. Those people weren't evil, most of them were drafted against their will, they too had their hopes and dreams, their only crime being fighting on the wrong side. Yet I massacred every single one that got into my way, no matter if they surrendered, no matter how they begged me to spare them, if I got an order, I carried it out without questions. And what was my ultimate fate? I survived, got to live in a luxury for the rest of my life, and carried on with my old job like nothing happened. When you think about it like this, who is the real victim?” 

“You just did what you had to….” Lena wanted to shout, but it came out sounding more like a question, her voice filled with doubt. 

Amélie's hand gently touched her cheek, bringing Lena's face close to her own so their foreheads nearly touched.

“I appreciate what you are trying to do. Even if it doesn't seem that way, I am thankful… that you go out of your way to help me. That you care about me this much, it makes me feel things that I have long since forgotten. But these hands of mine…” Amélie's finger stroked Lena's cheek affectionately “...they are drenched in blood so thoroughly, not fit to touch someone so pure and innocent like you. 

Lena brought her face even coser, her brown eyes staring into Amélie's amber ones. “But they are also the same hands that picked me up when I was at my lowest. No matter what you have done, you were nothing but kind to me, and I don't plan on abandoning you any time soon…”

“Lenna I…”

Whatever was Amélie planning to say, she never got the chance to. The very moment she opened her mouth, Lena's lips pressed against hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here you have it. It was probably hard to notice but there was a small timeskip (few weeks) between Hana's call and the rock climbing, meaning that the meeting they talked about already took place off screen and I won't be writing it.
> 
> When talking about french, or any other topics I have little knowledge of, I don't like to make stuff up, so I google things and attempt to use realistic info. The more time I spend looking into french, the happier I am that I chose german as my secondary language. It's also pretty difficult, but at least the rules make some distant sense. It's also kind of a no-brainer since I live a few minutes from german border. 
> 
> I am aware that the brief political debate at the end of the chapter may seem somewhat controversial. I would just like to say that the statements made by Amélie are made from her point of view as a character with a certain history, it does not necessarily reflect my own opinion. It's not like such overly complex and long lasting geopolitical conflict can be summed up in a few sentences anyway.The reason why I am writing this out is that I don't want the reviews getting political. I mean, you can voice your opinion if you want to, but receiving a review is such a great and exciting moment for me - I feel like a kid opening his his present on christmas - so if I were to open an email with review only for it to be several pages long essay on why I am wrong (which I might be), it would be kind of a bummer. 
> 
> Anyway, see you all in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time, I got no solid excuse for uploading late. I had more than enough time, but simply couldn't manage to bring myself to write anything. It may have something to do with the fact I have gone off script in the last chapter. The kiss actually wasn't supposed to happen until later, but I felt bad uploading after a month only to have nothing interesting happening, so I included it. That left me at loss on how to proceed further, hence this chapter taking three weeks. 
> 
> Well that's not entirely accurate either, It took three weeks to force my lazy ass to actually start writing, the entire chapter was written this very day, and as a result is about half of the normal wordcount - I do apologize about that.

While she would never admit it, Lena loved watching romcoms. She herself didn't quite know why, she intellectually knew most of them were badly written C-rate movies tailored to appeal to lonely middle aged women, yet she could just not resist watching. Perhaps she subconsciously relished the carefree atmosphere of unconditional love, something she never got to actually experience in her own life. Maybe it was just her taste in movies in general. Be that as it may, those types of movies were her guilty pleasure.

The thing is - when the main characters finally come together and kiss, the screen would usually fade to black, eventually making way for a timeskip where the couple was already married for ten years, and fondly reminiscing about the past while tucking their children to bed. 

One small detail Lena suddenly realized was, that the movie never actually showed what took place between the two scenes, like it was somehow expected that a kiss would automatically constitute a smooth established relationship, no questions asked. 

Lena was about to learn that reality was another beast altogether. 

When she thought of a kiss, she would usually imagine a highly intimate moment, where the two people slowly closed the distance, and gently connected their lips. 

Suffice to say, it didn't go as smoothly as Lena imagined. 

Instead of some drawn out moment of romance, she lunged her head forward, smashing her lips against Amélies. She immediately winced in pain as their noses crashed - the result of her not tilting her head to the side. She still pushed through, managing to catch the corner of Amélie's lips with hers.

This is where the wild makeout-session was supposed to start, except it didn't. Lena kept her mouth pressing against Amélie, who herself was too shocked to react. She didn't open her mouth, she didn't move. For a while, they just stood there, mouths touching, but stationary, like some dolls in a children's play. 

For a moment, Lena remembered the times where Hana jokingly offered her to try out kissing. While she was fairly certain the girl was just teasing her, perhaps she should have taken her up on it, then maybe she would know enough to not make a fool of herself like she did now.

Of course, that brief moment of shock could not last. She didn't actually close her eyes, so she could clearly see the way Amélie's own widened. 

She suddenly felt two hands pushing her away, thought with remarkably little strength. Breaking their awkward kiss, Lena finally got a good look on her face. 

The stoic and clam mask Amélie would usually wear was gone, instead replaced by a mixture of expressions, ranging from shock to surprise. The woman known for her constant cool head stared at her, dumbfounded, jaw hanging open like she just witnessed a holy miracle. 

“Lena…. what are you doing?” 

Upon hearing those words, Lena's haze shattered in an instant, the reality of the situation hitting her with full force.

She just kissed Amélie. 

“I-I…” 

Lena desperately sought for something to say, some way to convince Amélie that she didn't mean what she just did, that it had been a silly mistake, one both should just erase from their memory. But at that very moment, Lena's mind was completely empty. All the cogwheels running in her brain frozen solid, her mouth kept closing and opening, but no words came forth. 

In the absolute silence that commenced, the only thing Lena's hazed mind could focus on was Amélie's intense gaze. The way the sharp amber eyes bored into hers made her unable to look away, equally captivated and paralyzed by the wide range of emotions flashing through the dark yellow orbs, vanishing and changing before she could properly decipher them. 

Eventually, they settled back into normal, and Amélie looked to her again, her usual facade back in place. At that moment, Lena knew she failed. 

“Lena…” 

She didn't wait to hear the rest. Turning her back, she tore her wet eyes from the woman in front of her, sprinting up the stairs before Amélie had any chance to stop her. The half emptied mug of tea and a fresh trail of tears painting the stairs were the only things left in her wake.

**-/ /-**

It took several tries for Lena to open her door, her vision being blurry from the tears forming in her eyes. When she finally did. She smashed the door closed, before rushing to her bed, sinking her face into the pillow. For a while, she just stayed there, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her. 

_ “Fuck, why did I do that?!. I was so close, so close to…. But I had to fuck it up, everything I have worked for so far is in pieces. I bet she hates me now, she has to…” _

A short knock on the door ended her inner monologue

“Lena… are you there?”

She pushed her wet face further into the pillow, as if it could somehow hide her from the woman standing in front of her room. 

The knocking grew in volume and intensity. “Lena, I know you are there... Let's talk about this”

“No! Just go away!” 

Her doorknob rattled as a hand on the other side of the door attempted to open it, but it remained locked, while Lena laid on her mattress, wet from the girl's tears 

After a few unsuccessful attempts, the metallic sounds stopped, leaving the room in agonizing silence, safe for the sobs coming from the brown haired girl. 

_ “Is she gonna kick me out ? Oh god, I don't wan-I can't go back, I would rather..” _

Sharp screeching sound made her head snap to the side as Amélie Lacroix hauled herself through her window. 

The situation she was in momentarily forgotten, she looked to the woman currently rolling on her floor with a shocked expression “D-did you just climb the wall and through my window ?”

“Of course, I am not going to kick open my own doors, do you know how much they charge for a good lock these days?”

Absurd, that seemed to be the only word accurately describing the events currently unfolding in her room . 

It did not last long however - the moment their eyes met, both were remained the weight of the situation. 

Lena broke the eye contact first, turning her gaze to the floor, attempting to cover her sobbing face with her palms, only for the tears to drip through her fingers.

“I am  _ *hick* _ so sorry, I didn't mean to, please, I..”

Lena's jaw closed as she felt a warm hand land on her shoulder. She looked up to Amélie, who was wearing a complicated but not unkind expression. 

“It's okay, I am not angry at you Lena, I was just… bit surprised, that's all.”

Lena's trembling hand wiped away the tears from her eyes as she stared at her teacher “B-But I kissed you” 

“Well ehm, yes you did, but..” Curiously, Amélie broke the eye contact, looking away for a few seconds before resuming “But I don't blame you for it, I mean, you are a teenager, with the hormones doing their thing and you living with me, I figured a mistake like that can happen, you shouldn't worry about it too much, it would be unfair to hold it against you.”

_ “Mistake”  _ Even if Lena didn't expect Amélie to return her feelings, it hurt, for her to simply swipe it aside and act like it was some foolish case of her thinking with her crotch… But it gave her a convenient excuse, way to just forget about all of this and move on…

“It wasn't a mistake..” Lena whispered under her breath, more to herself than anyone else.

“Hmm? Did you say something?” 

_ “Shit, of course she would pick it up. I just need to tell her it's nothing, repress my feelings, and move on. That would be best for everyone….” _

“It wasn't a mistake!” 

Lena's tone was surprisingly resolute, at least as much as it could be after crying for the past few minutes.

Amélie looked to her questioningly, and every instinct told Lena to back off, and steer the conversation elsewhere. But - this was something that had to be done. 

“It wasn't a mistake...”, she repeated, this time bit quietly but with no less determination “...I didn't do it because hormones, or anything like that, I-I…” she felt her voice breaking “..I like you, I always did, how could I not after everything you did for me” 

“Lena…”

She pushed on “So yeah, I have feelings for you. I know you don't feel the same, but.. I don't want you to think this is just some shallow attraction from my side, I honestly want to be with you.

She saw the hard shock in Amélie's widening eyes as she took in her words. For the second time this evening, Amélie Lacroix was left speechless. In fact, the utter surprise radiating from her features seemed even more intense than when she kissed her, Lenna really didn't know what to make of that. 

When the shock finally wore off, Amélie was left with a strange expression. Was it sadness, remorse? It occured to Lena that she never actually saw Amélie sad, then again, the circumstances today were pretty unique. 

“Oh my little Lena, how much you have grown…”

She felt the grip on her shoulder tighten, drawing her further into Amélie's side. Lena immediately leaned into her. 

“I appreciate it, I honestly do. You are an amazing girl-amazing woman, and I found myself greatly enjoying the time we spent together. It was the first time since the war when I felt this… free, I don't quite know why, but just your company is enough to lift all the weight from my shoulders, that adorable carefree demandeur of yours made me feel things that I thought were lost forever…

“But?” Whispered Lena

“Yes, there's always a but, isn't it” Amélie chuckleded, though there was no cheer in her voice. 

“You idolise me Lena...” the girl felt Amélie's hand move to her head, her long slender fingers caressing her brown locks “...but you are too pure for someone like me, you should find some normal girl to be happy with.”

“I don't want some  _ normal girl, _ I want you - you are the only one I could be happy with!”

Lena started at Amélie unfalteringly, it was probably her vision being still hazy from the crying, but she could swear there was a faint trace of pink on Amélie's cheeks. 

“Oh my, you are quite the smoothtalker, keep at it, and you will have women falling head over heels for you in no time.” 

“So-”

Amélie cut her off before she could continue “But regardless of that, I can't return your feelings, even if I wanted to. First off, there's quite a significant age difference between us.

“Eleven years isn't that bad, it's pretty normal between married couples!” Lena shouted defyingly. 

“That may be, but in case you forgot, no matter how close we have become, I am still your teacher. If I entered romantic relationship with you, I wouldn't just be fired, it would likely result with a prison sentence”

“That-” Lena bit on her words. She wanted to say it didn't matter to her, but the image of Amélie being fired or even imprisoned just because she couldn't hold back her feelings filled her with dread. 

She looked away, the fire in her eyes suddenly gone. 

“You see Lena, this isn't something that could work. I understand how you feel, and I too care about you immensely, but that's why we can't do this…”

Lena stayed quiet, only pressing her face further into her chest. Amélie felt something wet on her shirt. 

She let her cry, pulling the sobbing girl closer. 

When she finally detached from Amélie's arms, the sky was already growing dark. “Alright, I-I get it… I am just gonna get some fresh air.” 

And just like that, she walked out of the room, leaving Amélie Lacroix sitting on her bed. It took a while until Amélie finally rose up from the wet sheets, leaving the room and heading downstairs for some much needed tea, hoping it would disperse the thoughts still lingering in her mind. 

_ “I wonder, did I do the right thing..?” _

**-/ /-**

  
  


**Victory**

The big blue text covered most of the screen, announcing yet another won game. Not like it ever said anything else, reflected Hana, wearing a smug grin as she observed her opponent angrily bitching in the chat. 

Like a master pianist playing at his debut, she straightened her back, cracking her fingers and slowly bringing them over the keyboard 

Git gud scrub lol 

She reached for her cup of instant noodles, gulping them down like a shot of vodka. They were already cold, and lacked any texture, but - they tasted like victory. Wiping her mouth, she queued for another game, leaning into her custom chair to avait the next unfortunate soul that would be pitted against her. 

Lena loved to complain about her eating habits, annoyed that despite the fact she lived almost exclusively off junkfood and soft drinks, she still somehow retained a perfectly fit figure.

Well, the world isn't fair, and genetics even less so. It's not like she would complain, especially when she seemed to land on the good side of the genetic lottery. It was likely due to the fact that her mother was a model, passing on her good genes was probably the only good thing the woman has ever done for her. 

On the other hand, maybe she ought to be more thankful to her father, after all, he was the one who was successful enough to make a world class model his trophy wife. 

Her thoughts were cut short as she heard loud ding, signalling that someone was in front of the door. Swearing,she got off her chair, walking down the ornamented marble stairs. 

_ “Is it the door salesman again? The fact I live in a mansion doesn't mean I will waste money on whatever defective toaster they are gonna offer this time…” _

The tall oak door slowly creaked open “Do you have any idea how late it is, I already told you that… The words froze on her lips, finally recognizing the person standing in front of her. 

It was Lena, but that wasn't really all that shocking, it was more about how she looked like. The usually cheerful girl looked like she was run over by a truck - her brown hair was messy and sticking out, the shirt wet and loose. But by far the worst was her face, Lena's eyes were red from crying, same as the baggy skin underneath, all that while wearing a positively distraught expression, one Hana definitely didn't associate with her happy-go-lucky friend.

“Hey Hana, I know it's pretty late, but… do you think we could talk?” Lena asked with a weak voice, as if fully expecting her to shut the door. 

Hana grabbed her hand, practically dragging her inside, hauling her onto the sofa before gripping her shoulders, bringing her face a few inches from of her own. 

“Jesus christ Lena, what happened to you!? Are you alright?” 

“Heh, is it that obvious ?”

“Fuck Lena, what do you think, you look just survived a plane crash, what the hell happened?” 

The bare concern so apparent in Hana's face made her feel both better and worse. Before her friend could get any more worried, she decided to spill the beans. 

“Well, I… kinda confessed to Amélie.”

“Like confessed-confessed?” Hana asked in disbelief 

“Yeah, I kissed her and told her how I felt about her….”

“Damm, just, wow. I am guessing it… wasn't well received?” 

“Of course it wasn't, she-she told me it wouldn't work, that I should find someone else, that…” her voice breaking, the brown haired girl began sobbing, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “I cant believe I have been this stupid, I fucked it all up Hana, just when I started getting through her…”

Two small hands wrapped around her back, as Hana pulled her into a hug. Lena immediately relaxed into her embrace, leaning into her, pressing her head onto her shoulder. “There there Lena, it's gonna be alright, everything is gonna be alright” It wouldn't be, Lena knew it, but she still allowed herself to be pulled closer, quently sobbing into Hana's chest. 

Hana gently rocked her back and forth, her long brown hair blending with Lena's into a mix of dark brown as their cheeks pressed together. Lena's sobs were quiet, her sorrow already losing most of its edge after confronting Amélie. Now she just felt a dull sense of sadness, less intensive but equally painful. “You did nothing wrong Lena, things will get better, I promise” Hana kept whispering comforting words into her ear, like she would with a toddler. It didn't really matter however, nothing she could say would have made a difference anyway, so Lena simply listened to the gentle tone of Hana's voice, pressing herself deeper into the warm embrace. 

She didn't know how long it lasted, and Hana didn't remember either, but at the end of it, her top was drenched in tears. 

When Lena finally pulled away, she wore a small but honest smile. 

“Thanks Hana, really I-I needed that. Stuff is pretty bad right now, but at least I know I can always count on you.” 

“You bet, so if you ever feel like shit again, come over, we will sort it out together” 

“Ha, aren't you just trying to lure me here to molest me?” 

“Well you are the one getting touchy-feely with me. You will have to try harder than that to seduce me”

Both girls giggled 

“Hehe, I will do my best. I probably should be going though.”

“You can stay over if you want, I don't mind housing you for a while”

“Thanks, but I don't want Amélie getting worried. Plus this is not something I can run away from.”

“Alright, jeez, since when did you become this mature…”

As Hana walked her to the door, she stopped to say her final goodbyes. “So ehm, thanks for everything… She suddenly turned back, pulling Hana into one last hug. Just before she let go, Lena gave her a little peck on the cheek. “See ya Hana, thanks for being a good friend.” 

and slipped outside, leaving Hana frozen in place. 

When she saw Lena disappear from her view, Hana brought her hand up, rubbing her cheek at the place where Lena's lips touched it. 

“Yeah…. You are welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't feel very satisfied with this chapter. the length is one thing, but I could also flesh out certain scenes more. Simply put, it's pretty apparent I wrote it in a single day. At the same time however, I really wanted to upload as soon as possible. 
> 
> Expect a new chapter - eventually.


End file.
